


Rolling the Dice

by MacyAudenStar



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-03-18
Updated: 2014-11-09
Packaged: 2018-01-16 05:22:15
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 29,264
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1333591
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MacyAudenStar/pseuds/MacyAudenStar
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>On a Team Arrow bonding trip to Las Vegas, Felicity and Tommy wake up married...risking Tommy's position as CEO of Merlyn Global Group. They agree to stay married for a year, trying not to screw up their friendship in the process.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks, as always, to Girlwithsixsmiles for being an amazing beta and putting up with me.

Felicity buried her head into the soft pillow, smiling softly as she realized that was the best sleep she’d had in a while. Too bad she had to get pretty drunk for it to happen. She stretched her arms out, searching for the cozy blanket to pull back up around her chin when her fingers grazed something warm and decidedly not blanket-like. She snatched her hand back, too nervous to open her eyes, then slowly, slowly reached her hand back out, poking at the body next to her.

“Please stop poking me in the stomach,” a very tired sounding voice said to her. A voice that sounded just like Tommy’s, in fact.

Felicity gasped, pulling her hand away as if it had been burned. She then counted to three before opening her eyes, only to confirm that she was, in fact, laying in bed next to one Tommy Merlyn. One shirtless Tommy Merlyn. Please have on boxers. Underwear. Something, she thought.

Tommy glanced over at her quickly, then raised up the blankets. “Nope.”

Ok, so maybe she hadn't just thought it. She glanced down at her own body. She was definitely wearing a button up shirt that she was pretty sure didn't belong to her. _“Tommy.”_

“You look good in my shirt, Felicity,” Tommy said, voice still rough with sleep. 

She glared at him until he rubbed a hand over his face. His left hand. His left hand that had a shiny new band on his ring finger that had definitely not been there before. Felicity grabbed at his arm pulling his hand closer to her to get a good look at the ring. “Tommy.”

He was staring at it in horror before he reached across her body and pulled at her own left hand. Sure enough, there was a band on her own ring finger. And another ring that had a suspiciously large diamond on it. With other diamonds along the band. It was gorgeous and funky with an intricate swirling design. And holy fuck, it looked like an engagement ring.

Felicity couldn’t help it. She started laughing. “There’s no way. No way this happened last night,” she said waving around them and their bed. Her bra was actually over the top of the TV. She itched to go get it, but she wasn’t sure how far down the shirt would go down her legs. And she wasn’t wearing any panties. No, those were hanging on the doorknob. Inside the room, thankfully, but still, that was awkward. At least she’d worn the pink lacy ones that matched the pink lacy bra, rather than something old and cotton.

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, willing herself to just calm down. She felt the bed move and looked over to see Tommy getting out from under the blankets. “What are you doing?”

“I have to go to the bathroom, Felicity. Is that ok?”

“Of course. Of course it is. I’m sorry. I’m just a little freaked out right now.” She squeezed her eyes shut, ignoring the little voice in her head reminding her that she probably got a good view of Tommy’s body the night before. Probably got a good view of his body more than once, judging by the pleasant ache she was feeling between her legs.

She could hear Tommy rustling through his bag, pulling on a pair of pants, and finally reopened her eyes to see him cross in front of the bed and into the direction of the bathroom. She thanked every higher power she could think of that he’d decided to get his own room rather than sharing the suite with Diggle, Laurel, Thea, and herself. 

She groaned because, while Thea would love it if Felicity hooked up with some random guy in Vegas, Diggle and Laurel would be freaking out that she was missing. Probably tell Oliver and Sara, who would freak out even more. The combined overprotectiveness of the two of them was just scary. _Shit._ She took the opportunity of Tommy being otherwise occupied to jump up and put her underwear and bra on. She was still looking for her dress when Tommy rejoined her. 

“Looking for your dress?” Tommy asked, leaning up against the door frame.

She threw her shirt back on over her bra, grateful that it at least skimmed her mid-thigh. “The others are going to be worried.”

“Well, I’m sure they remember that you and I left together. They’ll check with me before freaking out.” He paused. “It’s still early, but they’ll let you sleep until Thea wakes up, at least.”

“You’re right. Of course.” She finally took a good look at him, gasping at the red mark she could see on his torso. “Is that a _bite_ mark?”

Tommy smiled slowly, “It’s not the only one.” He pulled his pants down to show her the skin just under his hip bone. “You are a biter, Felicity.”

She maybe, sometimes, nipped, but she wasn’t going to admit that. “I mean, I don’t remember what happened last night. How do we know that’s from me?”

He snorted. “Really?”

“Sorry, you’re right. This is crazy, Tommy. We didn’t really get married, did we? I can’t have gotten married in Vegas, Tommy. What will my mom say? What will your board say if they found out. Oh, my God. Tommy. They can’t vote you out because of something like this, can they?”

He walked over to her slowly, grasping her shoulders and leading her to the bed. “Calm down.” He kneeled in front of her, placing his hands on her knees lightly. “No one is going to vote me out. I’m sure this is a mistake. We’ll figure it out, ok?”

She nodded her head, blinking rapidly at her dry eyes. “I really need my glasses.”

“Well, let’s see about your dress first.” He stood up, pulling her off the bed, then turned toward the door.

She groaned, seeing the scratches down his back. Well, at least he must have been good. She wished she could remember it. And how did she get that drunk? She vaguely wondered if they had been drugged, but she didn’t think so.

“Look, there’s your dress,” he pointed by the hotel room’s door. She walked over to grab it while he picked up the clothes he’d been wearing the day before over by the couch.

A knock at the door startled her and she looked over at Tommy with wild eyes. He gestured for her to stay quiet and hidden, then opened the door. “Hey, Laurel, what’s up?”

“Tommy! Have you seen Felicity? We haven’t seen her since last night.” Felicity could hear the worry in Laurel’s voice and immediately felt guiltier than she had before, which she didn’t think was possible.

“I have, actually. She’s asleep in my bed. She was really sick last night, throwing up, must have been food poisoning or something.”

“Oh, poor Felicity. Why don’t I come in and take a look at her?” Felicity nearly groaned aloud when she heard Diggle speak up. Fucking Diggle and his human lie detection.

“You know, she was up and down all night. She’s only been asleep for a few hours. I have a better idea. How about you let me throw on a shirt and I’ll come up with you guys to get her glasses and her bag, so she has a fresh outfit to change into and can wash her hair and everything.” He didn’t give them a chance to answer, just shut the door.

Felicity mouthed “thank you” at him before he disappeared into the bedroom to grab a clean shirt. He kissed her forehead quickly, murmuring that he’d be back in five minutes.

She stood in her hiding spot for just a moment, heart thumping in her chest as she tried to work out what happened the night before. This was supposed to be a fun bonding trip for Team Arrow.

When an old friend of Oliver and Tommy’s had invited them to his club’s opening, everyone jumped at the chance. Thea had just turned 21 a few weeks before. It was supposed to be a combined celebration, the club opening and her birthday.

Felicity dug out her phone, looking at the time. It was only noon, they didn’t have to be at the club for several more hours. That was plenty of time to piece together what happened. She frowned, noticing she had 7 missed calls, more than 20 text messages, all from Thea, Laurel, and Diggle. At least Tommy was right, they checked his room before getting Oliver involved.

She checked her email, she’d set up Google alerts for everyone on the team. “Shit. Shit shit shit.” Several articles popped up in her email from Google about Tommy. “Tommy Merlyn Kisses Mystery Blonde” and “Tommy Merlyn Spotted Outside Chapel” were just two of the articles.

She needed her tablet. And fast. Maybe she could still clean up this mess. At the very least she could take the articles down quickly. Hope that no one else had seen them yet.

Felicity wandered back to the bedroom and dumped the contents of her clutch out on the bed. Rewards cards from the Bellagio, Paris, and Caesar’s Palace, all of which she remembered getting. They had dinner at the Bellagio, everyone getting pleasantly tipsy, then they went to the Stratosphere. 

Everyone went to the top, even her, although she didn’t go outside. When the rest of the group decided they were going to ride the rides at the top of the building, she decided she was going to go downstairs and gamble by herself. You couldn’t pay her enough to ride any of those death traps, and she’d told them as much.

* * *

“Come on, Felicity. Please?” Thea tugged on her hand, trying to get her to stand in line with the rest of them. “We already bought tickets.”

“I don’t know why, you guys know I’m scared of heights. I’m also _not crazy_.” Felicity said, crossing her arms over her chest.

“I didn’t think you were serious,” Thea said with a pout. “It’s my birthday.”

Felicity barked out a laugh. “Thea. Come on. Your birthday was weeks ago and I went bar hopping with you then. You couldn’t pay me enough to get me on one of these.”

“Fine, fine,” Thea said, waving at her. “What will you do?”

“Just go downstairs and play some games. I’ll be fine.”

“Nope. I don’t feel like going either,” Tommy said, wrapping his arm around her shoulders. “In fact, I think Felicity is going to get the Tommy Merlyn Las Vegas Tour.”

Felicity rolled her eyes at him. “I don’t know if you could pay me enough to go on that either.”

“Whatever. You’ll love it,” Tommy said, squeezing her arm.

Felicity ignored the knowing look on Digg’s face, it was easier to pretend that she and Tommy hadn’t been dancing around each other the last couple of months. Hadn’t been teasing and flirting or letting touches linger during training.

“You should go,” Laurel said.

“Tommy knows the ins and outs of Vegas, Felicity,” Oliver said with a grin.

Felicity poked Tommy in the stomach. “I’m going to get arrested, aren’t I?”

“I promise to not get you arrested,” Tommy said.

“Please. You’ll probably end up at the Little White Wedding Chapel,” Sara said with a laugh.

Felicity rolled her eyes as the rest of the team laughed with Sara. Tommy dropped a kiss to Thea’s forehead, telling her to have fun, then danced his fingers down Felicity’s arm, grabbing her hand. “Come on. Let’s get out of here.”

“You really don’t have to babysit me. You could have stayed with them.”

“I think the proper response would have been ‘thank you, Tommy.’ And besides, I’ve had enough near death experiences, I don’t need to have another one from one of those rides.” He dropped his hand to the small of her back. “I’d rather spend time with you.”

Felicity bit her lip to hide her smile. “Ok. Where to first?”

“What do you say to going downtown?”

“Oooh, and check out the seedier parts of Vegas?” She said, wiggling her eyebrows.

“We might even get to see the Fremont Street Experience. Get our picture taken with an Elvis impersonator. Maybe find some hookers after that.”

She laughed. “Lovely. Sounds like a great time.”

* * *

A knocking at the door broke her out of her reverie. She peeked through the peephole to see Tommy standing out in the hallway. “Forget to grab your key?” she asked as she beckoned him inside.

“I did, I’m glad you didn’t decide to jump in the shower or anything.” He dropped her things on the couch, then leaned against the armrest. “I brought everything from your room.”

“My tablet?” she asked, not even looking at him for a response as she opened her bag to dig it out. “Good. I need to do some damage control. Why don’t you take a shower while I do that?”

Tommy nodded and walked off into the bedroom again. Felicity quickly took out her contacts and put on her glasses, then got to work removing all the articles featuring them that she could find. 

Twenty-five minutes later, she was still working when Tommy left the bedroom, fully clothed, running a towel over his wet hair. “Room service?” he asked her. She hummed in his direction and he chuckled. “I’m going to take that as a yes. What are you doing?”

“So, you remember the Google Alerts I set up that you all thought were so weird?” She glared at him, but continued without waiting for a response. “Well, thanks to those alerts, I found out there are several articles out there, featuring the two of us.”

“And?” He said, looking through the room service menu.

“And they got pictures of us kissing and of us outside the chapel.” She pinched the bridge of her nose. “Why aren’t you freaking out about this?”

“Because you’re freaking out enough for the both of us. Right now, I’m choosing to focus on the fact that we haven’t eaten since dinner last night and I know if I don’t order food for you, you won’t eat. So, what sounds better, cheeseburger, mac and cheese, pizza, or chicken fingers?”

Felicity’s stomach growled and she realized a greasy lunch would do wonders for her hangover. “Did you say chicken fingers?”

Tommy chuckled. “I did. Split some mac and cheese with me?” She nodded in response and focused on her tablet again while he placed the order. A few minutes later he sat down on the couch next to her, putting an arm around her shoulders and plucking the tablet from her hands.

“Tommy! Are you kidding me?”

“You realize you’re still wearing my shirt right? And that your hair looks like a rat’s nest? And that your makeup is seriously smudged?” Felicity frowned. “Of course, I still think you’re adorable, Smoak, but what’s done is done. It’s already almost 1:30. If anyone was going to see anything, they’ve already seen it. You can take a shower and put on clean clothes.”

She yanked the tablet back out of his hands. “I only have one more to take down, Tommy. And then I’ll be done and can take a shower.” It took her less than ten minutes, then she set the tablet down and stood up to stretch. “See? Shower now.”

“Good. Food should be here soon too,” Tommy said. He was flipping through random channels on the TV, trying to find something to watch. Felicity grabbed her bag and rushed into the bathroom. She didn’t want to admit it to Tommy, but she felt disgusting. She pulled out fresh clothes, laying them across the bed, then her toiletries and went into the bathroom.

She took her shower as quickly as she could, knowing the food would arrive soon. She wrapped her hair up in the towel, getting dressed in a skirt and one of her favorite tops, before rejoining Tommy. He was sitting at the dining table, with covered plates sitting in front of him.

“Good timing,” he said with a smile. “I didn’t want to start without you. It only arrived a few minutes ago.”

“Oh, good,” she sat down with him, uncovering her plate. “This looks so good.”

“Good and greasy. Perfect for a night after drinking.”

She hummed in agreement. “What did you end up telling them about today? Are we supposed to meet up with them anytime soon?”

“I bought us a little time. Told them we’d meet them for dinner, after you’d gotten a little more rest.”

“That’s good,” she said. They ate in an awkward silence for a few minutes before she finally said, “So what do you actually remember about last night?”

“Well, the Fremont Street Experience. That Elvis impersonator there.” She nodded, she remembered those as well, and there were pictures on her phone of them with the Elvis impersonator. “Then we went into Four Queens, remember?” She snorted. They went inside purely because of the name. “Where you impressed me with your card counting prowess. And we kept getting those free drinks…”

“Yeah. And then that guy kept buying us shots, looking like he’d kill us if we refused.” She was pretty sure the scary guy was just trying to get her to mess up. “I don’t remember what happened after that though.”

“We went back to the Stratosphere because you said you liked that casino,” he continued. “More free drinks, although I tried to start drinking them for you.”

“From there, we must have gone to the chapel,” she said, trailing off. She took a long drink of water. “I can’t believe we’re so dumb.”

“I wish this was the dumbest thing I’ve ever done, Felicity.”

Felicity ignored him. “What are we going to tell the others?”

“We don’t have to tell them anything. Look, we can barely remember what happened last night, right? We’ll get it annulled first thing Monday. You’ll work your magic. No one ever has to know what happened.”

Felicity nodded. “Right. You’re right. And nothing has to change between us, right? We’re good, right?” she said, waving her hands between the two of them.

“Right,” Tommy said with a bright smile.

“Great.” She felt a twinge of disappointment, but brushed it off. She didn’t even know what she had to feel disappointed about.

“So, what do you want to do until we’re supposed to meet up with them, Mrs. Merlyn?”

“Tommy.”

“Sorry, sorry. I couldn’t resist, I had to say it at least once,” he said through his laughter.

Felicity rolled her eyes at him, although something tugged at her brain, like it was struggling, and failing, to bring a memory to the forefront of her mind. Which, of course it was. She’d lost at least 14 hours of memories when you included sleep.

 

A few hours later, Felicity and Tommy were back at the hotel room getting ready. They’d spent the day downtown again, checking out the Mob and Neon Museums. Which Felicity still couldn’t believe she’d gotten Tommy to agree to do, spending the whole day at museums.

“Oliver just texted me, Felicity. They’re already at Circo, getting ready to be seated.” Tommy called to her from the living room.

“One second,” she called back. She looked over herself one more time, playing with the curls in her hair. She grabbed her clutch, turning off all the lights, before joining him.

“You look gorgeous,” Tommy said with a smile when she walked out of the bedroom.

She flashed a bright smile at him. “Thank you. You don’t look so bad yourself.”

He held the door open for her, gesturing for her to go first, then whistled low when she walked in front of him. Her dress had some strategic cut outs on the sides and the back, with a short, flared skirt. She loved it, and it was perfect for a club opening.

His fingers twitched on the skin at the small of her back, making her skin tingle and her cheeks feel flushed. The elevator doors opened and the older gentleman that was already on there smiled widely at them. “Hello again, Mr. and Mrs. Merlyn!”

Felicity and Tommy exchanged glances, looking at him questioningly. “I’m sorry, sir, I don’t…” She said, but trailed off, not sure what to say.

“I’m not surprised you don’t remember me,” the man said with a wink. “You two were pretty wrapped up in each other. Your young man here paid me enough attention to tell me how excited he was that you’d agreed to marry him.”

Felicity knew she was full on blushing at this point. “Oh. Well, it’s nice to see you again, sir.”

“You as well. Congratulations again, to you both.” Felicity glanced over at Tommy, surprised to see the tips of his ears were red. “Such a good looking couple,” the man said, causing them both further embarrassment.

* * *

Felicity gasped as Tommy pressed her against the wall, nuzzling the spot under her ear. “I can’t wait to get this dress off you, Mrs. Merlyn.”

She tangled her fingers into his hair, dragging his mouth back to hers, nipping his bottom lip lightly before he slanted his lips over her own. She heard nothing but their little moans and gasps, until suddenly the sound of a man clearing his throat interrupted them. They broke apart quickly, Tommy leaning his forehead against hers before chuckling and turning to look at someone to her right.

“I’m so sorry, sir,” Tommy said. “We can’t help but celebrate. Can you believe this beautiful, intelligent, amazing woman just married me?”

Felicity hazarded a glance at the other person in the elevator with them, an older man, maybe in his mid-50s or so. He smiled back at the two of them, still tangled up in each other. “That’s wonderful. Congratulations, Mr. and Mrs….”

“Merlyn,” Tommy supplied.

“Congratulations, Mr. and Mrs. Merlyn.”

Tommy dropped a kiss to Felicity’s cheek, then pulled away from her, wrapping an arm around her waist as they waited for the elevator to stop at their floor. It was an awkward 30 seconds in silence, and she couldn't help but giggle when Tommy swooped her up in his arms, carrying her out of the elevator once it finally stopped at their floor.

“Put me down, Tommy Merlyn,” she said smacking at his chest.

“Nope. Not going to happen. I have to carry you over the threshold. Tradition, Mrs. Merlyn.” He stopped at the door of the hotel room, telling her to reach into his back pocket for his wallet for the key. She unlocked the door and opened it, allowing him to kick it open wider, before he shut it and pinned her up against the door. He made quick work of her zipper, allowing his hands to linger on her skin as he helped her out of the dress. “I told you I couldn't wait to get this off you, Felicity.”

She stepped out of the dress, affording him a better view of her. He smiled slowly, pulling her close. “Have I ever told you how good you look in pink?”

* * *

“Felicity.” Felicity shook her head, looking at Tommy, who was holding the elevator doors open so they wouldn't close on them. He looked concerned. “Are you ok?”

Felicity blushed. “I am. I’m sorry. I just zoned out for a minute.” She left the elevator, smiling apologetically at the small group of people waiting to get on.

“If you don’t feel up to going out tonight, just say the word, and I’ll make something up,” Tommy said, stopping in front of her with his hands at her waist.

“I’m fine, Tommy, really,” she said. She didn’t want to tell him what she remembered, afraid it would make it awkward between them. “I’ve been looking forward to eating at this restaurant anyway. We are definitely going tonight. Thank you though.”

He rested his hand against the small of her back again, guiding her through the lobby and occasionally giving her concerned looks. She smiled tightly at him, wishing he’d stop finding excuses to touch her now that she could remember how his hands felt as they caressed her skin the night before. It was going to be a long night.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tommy has to deal with the fallout of their mistake at the office.

Tommy pulled into his parking spot at work Monday morning and sighed, leaning his head on the steering wheel of his car. It had been a long, fucked up weekend. He screwed up. He screwed up and Felicity was the one that was having to fix it, as per usual. Felicity was always the one fixing everything.

Of all the things to do over the weekend, getting drunk and hooking up with a good friend, who happened to be your best friend’s “Girl Friday” (even after she’d been promoted) and your ex-girlfriend’s friend was always a bad idea. Marrying her? Just plain stupid. So fucking stupid.

He took a deep breath, steeling himself for work that day, then finally walked into the building, hoping that no one saw the articles online before Felicity got them down.

“Morning, Mr. Merlyn. Did you have a good weekend?” Scott asked as Tommy set his briefcase on the security belt that was installed almost immediately after the Glades Earthquake. They weren’t going to take any chances.

Tommy smiled at the security guard. “Scott, I’ve told you 100 times to call me Tommy. My weekend was good. How was Lia’s birthday party?” 

“Good, she loved that bounce house. Thanks for the tip.” Tommy’s briefcase came down the conveyor belt. “Everything checks out. Have a good day, sir.”

Tommy saluted the guard, not bothering to tell Scott not to call him “sir” either. It just didn’t stick, even though they were the same age. He smiled at the employees he passed in the halls on the way to the elevator. Once safely inside, he clenched and unclenched his fists. No one was looking at him strangely, asking about his wife. Maybe the news actually hadn’t gotten around.

He’d tried to keep a calm facade the rest of the weekend in Vegas. After he’d been a complete dumbass and gotten married to Felicity, of all people. Not that there was anything wrong with Felicity, no she was great. Fantastic, even. But she’d already had her life dictated by one billionaire, he didn’t need to add on to that.

Not to mention he was mildly concerned about what John Diggle would do to him if he ever found out. The older man watched over Felicity like a hawk.

* * *

Tommy left the hotel room, careful to pull the door shut all the way. “Ready?”

Laurel nodded and she and Digg led the way down the hall, to the elevators. They stood in an awkward silence, both of them giving Tommy appraising looks, while Tommy stared straight ahead at the wall, willing the elevators to hurry up.

“What did you and Felicity do after you left last night?” Laurel asked.

“Oh, you know, went downtown, watched the Fremont Street Experience, gambled a little bit, grabbed a snack at a food truck.” Got drunk, got married like complete and total fucking dumbasses, he thought to himself. 

Luckily, before he could say anything incriminating, the elevator arrived, allowing them to file in quickly. He needed to remember to stay calm. Him staying calm would keep Felicity calm. A calm Felicity meant she would keep her rambling in control. And hopefully would not inadvertently reveal they got married the night before.

“Never know about those food trucks,” Digg said. Tommy recognized that voice. That was the Digg’s “judging you” voice. Digg was onto him. 

“Well, you know, I told her not to get the shrimp,” Tommy said with a shrug. “But what can you do?”

Laurel smiled up at him, laying her hand on his forearm. “It was really nice of you to look after Felicity last night.”

“Just being a good friend.” When was this elevator ride going to end? The suite was only two floors above his. Would have been faster to take the stairs, he thought. “How were the rides?”

“They were a lot of fun,” Laurel said, and finally the elevator stopped at their floor. “Thea almost got sick, actually. When the one drops you over the city, and you’re just hanging there for a minute before spinning. It was a little frightening.”

He grinned to himself, imagining the look on Thea’s face. He should have stayed with them, should have left Felicity to gamble in the casino like she’d wanted to originally. Then they wouldn’t be in the mess they were in. “Sounds like fun.” Laurel nodded, unlocking the hotel room door. “Which room was she staying in?”

“Second door on the left,” Laurel said, pointing in the direction of the room.

Tommy walked over to the room, aware that he had a shadow. A big, hulking shadow. But he said nothing, just let himself into Felicity’s hotel room and started packing up her belongings.

“How’d you get the mark on your chest?” Digg asked.

Tommy froze, but tried to play it off like he was looking around the room for her tablet. “Mark?”

“Yeah. The mark, on the left side.”

Tommy turned to look at Digg, who was leaning up against the doorframe, arms crossed, in what was probably supposed to be an intimidating way. “One night stand. Few days ago. Was a lot worse then. This actually looks good.”

Digg said nothing and Tommy went into the adjoining bathroom to grab Felicity’s toiletries. He wasn’t sure if she was planning on staying with him again that night or not, but knew she’d at least want to take a shower when he got back.

“Here I thought you’d sworn off one night stands,” Digg said as Tommy rejoined him. The truth was, Tommy had sworn them off. He hadn’t slept with a girl he wasn’t in a relationship with since before Laurel. Since Laurel, there’d been three other girls, but nothing that felt like it would last.

“Fell off the bandwagon,” Tommy said lightly, tucking Felicity’s tablet into a side pocket of her bag.

Digg gave him a hard look. “If you hurt her…”

Tommy didn’t give him the chance to finish the sentence. “You’ll kill me. Listen, nothing is going on. You can put away the big brother gloves. I would never, ever hurt Felicity. I promise.” He sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. “Are we done here? I’d like to get back to her. I’m sure she’ll be concerned if she wakes up and I’m gone.”

Digg raised an eyebrow at him, but nodded at the door. Tommy didn’t have to be told twice. He shot out of there like a bat out of hell. He resisted the urge to punch the wall while he was waiting for the elevator to arrive, once again. How could he have been so fucking stupid? He’d made a lot of dumb decisions, but this was a first. He’d never married someone before.

Standing outside his hotel room door, he took several deep breaths, willing himself to calm down before knocking. It wouldn’t do them any good for him to freak out. Wouldn’t help Felicity to stay calm. They both needed to stay calm. Taking one more deep breath, he raised his fist to knock at the door lightly, smiling brightly when she opened the door for him.

* * *

“Oh, Tommy. Thank goodness you’re here.” Shirley, his assistant, rushed up to him the second he stepped out of the elevator.

“Morning, Shirley,” he said with a frown. This was not a good start to his Monday. “What’s going on?”

“The board called an emergency meeting, 30 minutes from now,” she said. “Sounded like something was wrong.”

Fuck. Of course it did. He hoped that they didn’t know about the marriage. Let it be anything else other than the marriage. Felicity was fixing it. She was going to fix the problem. They were having it annulled, then she was going to scrub every record of it she could possibly find. She got rid of everything she found on the internet. They couldn’t know. They couldn’t. “Did they happen to say what it was in regards to?”

“They didn’t. It was Mr. Washington that called and set it up. He didn’t sound very happy,” she said apologetically.

If Washington himself called, then it had to be big. But Tommy would stay calm. He would handle it. Everything was going to be fine, just like he repeatedly told Felicity over the weekend. “Thank you, Shirley.”

“Of course, sweetheart.” She took a long look at him. “Are you ok? You need any coffee, tea?”

“I’m fine, thank you though.” He gestured toward his desk. “I’m just going to go check email and my notes. Do I have any other meetings aside from this one today?”

“You have that one with Mary Davis right after lunch,” she told him. “But other than that, you’re free.”

Just like he liked his Mondays. “Great, thank you.” He sat at his desk and put his head in his hands. He’d told Felicity that this wouldn’t ruin his position at Merlyn Global Group, but the truth was, he had been worried about it the remainder of the weekend. He was still a probationary CEO. Even though it had been two years since he’d taken over, the board still didn’t completely trust him. He’d gone out of his way to show them he was a mature, responsible adult that was capable of running his father’s company.

Capable of reforming his father’s company. Giving it a better image than “that company that was run by the guy that destroyed the city” as one employee had put it when he quit. Since taking over, Tommy had tried to learn the ropes, tried to give back to the community. He’d made a lot of changes to the way the company was run, encouraging volunteering, working with charities and schools in the Glades to help rebuild.

But the board hadn’t been impressed enough to inform him he was no longer on probation. No, they still reviewed him and his work every three months, as if they were planning on voting him out any day. And they probably were. At least three of his 12 board members would jump at the chance to succeed him and he knew it.

Shirley knocked on his office door, “The conference room, Tommy.”

Tommy stood and adjusted his tie and suit jacket nervously, then nodded at Shirley as he walked past. When he walked into the conference room, the other members of the board were already there. “Good morning.”

The others looked at him, some nodding in greeting, others turning to look at Henry Washington, who was obviously leading the meeting. “Good morning, Mr. Merlyn,” Washington said. “Why don’t you sit down.” Tommy pursed his lips, but did as he was told.

“I trust you had a good weekend?” Washington asked.

Tommy nodded. “It was good to support an old friend and his business.”

“Does he own a wedding chapel?”

Tommy kept his face passive and shook his head. “I don’t know what you mean.”

“Your friend. In Vegas. Does he own a wedding chapel?” Washington asked again.

“No. He opened a new club on the strip. Plush.”

Washington nodded. “I heard a funny story Saturday morning from my wife’s brother. He was in Vegas for a conference, staying at the Bellagio.” Tommy just stared at Washington. Fuck. “He was excited to let us know that he met you and your lovely wife over the weekend.”

Tommy sat, stone-faced, still just looking at Washington, waiting for him to go on. Washington flipped open the file folder that was sitting in front of him, passing a piece of paper to Tommy. “Felicity Smoak, to be exact,” Washington said as Tommy made a grab for the paper. And there it was, the picture that Felicity was freaking out about. The one that showed the two of them kissing in front of the wedding chapel. “Good thing I printed it off when I did, because amazingly, when I tried to search it out again, it was gone.”

“We all agreed that this was a probationary position, Tommy. You had to prove to us that you are a mature, responsible adult that is capable of running this company,” Carl Jeffers said. “I’m sorry, Tommy, but getting drunk and marrying a girl in Las Vegas does not show us that you are ready to handle the company.”

“Felicity Smoak, Tommy?” He slid his eyes away from the picture to look at Christopher Menken, one of the few board members Tommy actually liked. “Do you really think that’s wise?”

Tommy crossed his arms over his chest. “I’m unsure of what you mean by that.”

“Felicity Smoak, Oliver Queen’s EA?” Christopher said, sounding a little unsure of himself.

“Isn’t she the Director of Special Projects now?” Sheila Burns said. Tommy eyed her, but she wouldn’t meet his eyes.

“And we all know how she got that job,” Washington said snidely. Tommy’s nostrils flared, but before he could get a word in edgewise, Washington spoke again. “She was probably upset that her original plan didn’t work out.”

“But she still has plenty of control over QC,” Christopher added. “Rumor has it, Queen trusts her more than he trusts his own mother.”

“As he well should. You don’t know Felicity,” Tommy said between gritted teeth. The board members turned their heads towards him. “Felicity is the most intelligent, compassionate woman you could ever meet.”

“And she just happens to have her nails in the most powerful CEOs in Starling,” Washington added. “Your new wife and Oliver Queen’s most trusted employee. Was she the one to propose or did she get you drunk?”

Tommy clenched his jaw, angry that they would imply something like that about Felicity, of all people. “You think I married Felicity because I was drunk? You’re wrong. I married her because she is funny and smart and generous and beautiful. She is one of the very best people I know. And I am lucky that she chose to be my wife.”

“You love her then? You love Felicity, the girl that none of us even knew you were dating?” Christopher asked.

“You can assure us that this was planned on your part? She’s not out to get our company, your company, not out to get our money. This is something you wanted? On both your parts, because you’re in love. That’s what you’re telling us, Tommy?” Washington said, staring Tommy down.

Shit. “It is. It was planned. We’ve been dating for the last year and we love each other, very much. She’s not after Merlyn Global Group. We’re just really good friends that fell in love,” Tommy said, trying to keep the panic out of his voice.

“Why did you keep it a secret then?” Carl asked.

“Well, Carl, Felicity doesn’t enjoy being in the tabloids. We wanted to keep it quiet, surprise our friends and family,” Tommy said. Felicity was going to kill him. If Diggle didn’t get to him first.

Washington stood up and clapped Tommy on the shoulder. “That’s great, son. When will you allow us to announce the good news to the company? Have you worked out a press release?”

Tommy knew it was a charade. Washington was going to be watching him closely. He and Felicity were screwed. Or just he was screwed, really. This wasn’t Felicity’s problem. He was going to get removed from his position as CEO. All because he was the idiot making the mistake of drunkenly marrying someone at 30 years old. “You know, give us a week to inform our loved ones, and then we can announce it. I’ll have Shirley get to work on the press release.”

“And she’ll be with you at the benefit this weekend?” Washington asked.

Tommy nodded. “She will.”

“Great. We can’t wait to meet her,” Carl said. “She sounds like a _wonderful_ young woman.”

They all filed out, everyone except for Christopher and Tommy. Tommy always made a point to stay after meetings, ensure that no one had any additional questions for him. “You understand that if this thing blows up in your face that you’ll be voted out, don’t you?” Christopher asked him.

“No, I didn’t get that from this meeting. Please, spell it out for me,” Tommy said, pinching the bridge of his nose.

“Tommy, I like you. I think you made a huge mistake. One that could still cost you your position at this company. Everyone knows Felicity Smoak is a gold digger. We all know exactly how she got those positions at QC. I mean, what kind of executive assistant goes on to become a director in less than two years?” Christopher said. “You need to be careful.”

Tommy pursed his lips and nodded, but before Christopher could walk out of the room, Tommy reached out and grabbed his arm, stopping him. “I appreciate the warning, Christopher. But I am going to ask you, politely, to watch what you say about my wife.” Tommy released Christopher’s arm, allowing him to leave the conference room.

Alone in the room, Tommy took a deep breath. His wife. Oh, shit. He was screwed. He checked the time, it was only 10AM. Lunch. He’d take her to lunch, explain everything. He sent her a quick text, asking if she was free for lunch, and when she texted that she was, told her that he’d pick her up around 11:30.

“Shirley, I’m stepping out of the office. Can you reschedule my meeting? Tell Mary something came up, I’m sure she’ll understand,” Tommy said quickly.

“Of course, Tommy. Is everything ok?” Shirley asked.

“Of course. I’ll see you tomorrow. Call me if you need me to come back in, ok?” Tommy didn’t wait for an answer, just grabbed his briefcase and made his way out to his car as quickly as possible. First stop: flowers, he thought as he recalled a conversation he’d had with her a year and a half ago.

* * *

“Afternoon, Felicity,” Tommy called as he walked up to her desk. “Oliver ready for lunch?”

“Hey, Tommy. He’s running late. Kelly always manages to keep him longer than she should,” she said with a roll of her eyes. “Extra security equipment was being installed at Merlyn Global Group today, right?”

Tommy walked closer, leaning against her desk. “Yeah. Everything seems to be going pretty well so far. Some of the employees don’t seem to be thrilled about it, but they understand the security reasons behind it. We’ve had 12 threats since Friday. That puts us at over 150 since the earthquake.”

Felicity’s eyebrows nearly disappeared into her hairline. “Seriously? That’s terrible. Email or…?”

He shook his head. “Letters. Phone calls. I’ve got my guys on it, Felicity. Thank you though. I should have had them installed a few months ago, but I thought it would stop.” He glanced down to look at his watch, and a flash of color caught his eyes. Felicity had thrown away half a dozen pink roses. “Secret admirer, Felicity?”

She looked in the direction that he was looking at and rolled her eyes. “No. That guy I’ve been seeing. Joshua?” He nodded, remembering her talk about him. “He stood me up last night. But it wasn’t the first time. I told him I was done, and he sent me those. My life is busy enough with my nighttime activities, I don’t need to be stood up on top of it. If he was interested, he’d have been there.”

“You want me to go beat him up for you?” Tommy asked with a wink.

Felicity smiled. “No. I’m good. I’m really ok. I promise. And don’t tell Oliver or Dig, ok? You know how they are.”

He did, having been on the wrong end of John Diggle’s glare before. Not to mention growing up with Oliver. “They’re nice flowers though. You don’t want to at least decorate your office with them?”

Felicity scoffed. “My office? Really? You mean Oliver Queen’s waiting area? I’m good. Besides, I hate roses. If a guy really wants to get in my good graces, he’d get lilies. Especially Peruvian lilies. Those are my favorite. All the colors.” Her phone rang and she turned to answer it, with her standard, annoyed greeting.

While she spoke to the person on the other line, Tommy filed away the flower information. Never hurt to know a girl’s favorite flowers, after all. “Where are you guys planning on going for lunch?” Felicity asked, after hanging up.

“Not sure. That Italian place, maybe?” Tommy answered. He laughed as she put on her best pouting face. “You want me to send some back with Oliver?”

“Would you mind? I didn’t have a chance to get to the grocery store this weekend.” Tommy nodded in understanding, the past weekend had been spent dealing with “The Mayor” and finding out Sara Lance was still alive.

“Of course not,” he said, tugging at her ponytail.

* * *

Tommy placed the order for the lilies that she loved so much at the florist, grateful that he’d filed that information away. When he opened his wallet to pay for the flowers, he frowned to see the shiny foil wrapper of a condom that he always kept hidden away behind his credit cards. He stared at it in disbelief until the cashier cleared her throat, trying to hurry him up. They didn’t use a condom? How could they have had sex and not used a condom? How could this day possibly get any worse?

Well, he could run into Oliver or Diggle as he was walking through QC with flowers for Felicity, he decided. But he managed to get lucky and make it through the building and to her office without seeing either of them. He knocked on her office door, warning her that he’d arrived and smiled when she beckoned him inside. She held up a finger as she finished her phone call, then hung up up and smiled at him. “Hi. What’s going on?”

Tommy handed her the flowers, then kissed her on the cheek. “I have to admit, I have ulterior motives for being here.” Felicity buried her nose in the flowers, but raised her eyebrows, waiting on him to continue. He pursed his lips, turning to shut the door behind him before he began. “I fucked up, Felicity. I’m so sorry. But I fucked up so bad.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for all the kudos and comments!


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Felicity and Tommy form a plan, tell the team.

Felicity stared at Tommy for a moment before very calmly setting the vase of flowers on her desk. “Explain.”

Tommy ran his hands over his face, then dragged the chair over to her, allowing him to sit close enough that their knees could touch, should she turn just a little to the right. “God, Felicity. I don’t even know where to start.”

She pursed her lips and tilted her head a little to the side. “From the beginning might be a good place.”

“You’re going to hate me. Shit, Felicity, you’re going to be so mad at me,” Tommy said in a low voice. “The board called me in for an emergency meeting this morning. They found out about us. I told them we’re in love, Felicity. They were going to remove me from my position and I told them we planned the marriage and the wedding and that we’re in this for the long haul.” Felicity pressed her lips together and narrowed her eyes at him, but he continued before she could say anything. “So I’m kind of hoping that you’ll maybe agree to stay married to me for awhile. And maybe let me move in with you. To sell it.”

She stared at him, speechless. But he refused to meet her eyes before he spoke again, “There’s more.”

“Are you kidding me right now, Tommy Merlyn?” she hissed at him.

Tommy winced. “You know how we had amazing sex the other night?”

She closed her eyes. The amazing sex that she didn’t remember. How do you forget you had sex with Tommy Merlyn? That’s the worst kind of punishment. She was never drinking that much again. And wait, did he actually remember having sex with her? How much did he remember exactly? “I remember -- or more specifically, I don’t remember, which is completely unfair, by the way -- something like that,” she said in a strangled voice.

“We maybe didn’t use a condom.” He paused and shook his head. “No. We didn’t use a condom. No maybe about it. We did not use a condom. It’s still in here. In my wallet. And because I was probably too drunk to think about pulling out...Well, there’s always the chance that you might be pregnant.” He refused to meet her eyes as he looked around her office, at everything but her.

Felicity stared at him in shock. This was...a lot to take in. Although, she had to admit, she was comforted by the fact that he was not as calm as he seemed the other day. Even so, there was more going on here than she was prepared to deal with. They didn’t use a condom? How could they have been so plastered they wouldn’t have used a condom? Sure, she was on birth control, but there was always the possibility of getting pregnant, even on birth control.

She couldn’t be pregnant. This wasn’t in the plans for her for at least another five years. And certainly not with someone that she got drunk and married. Not that there was anything wrong with Tommy Merlyn, but he didn’t even have those kinds of feelings for her, and she didn’t have any kind of feelings for him.

“Well, say something, Felicity,” he said, his fingers tapping at his knees.

She pushed her glasses up her nose, thinking of where to begin to tackle all of the information. “I don’t know where to start. First, I’m on birth control, so there’s a very small chance that I’m pregnant. Of course there’s still a chance, but it’s less than ten percent, right? And I cannot be pregnant. I can’t be.” She continued talking over his sigh of relief. “I can’t believe we didn’t use a condom, Tommy. That is so reckless and stupid and I know I can’t really be mad at you because it takes two and all that. And for all we know, I told you not to worry about the condom because I’m on birth control.

“There’s nothing we can do about it now though, I should start in a few weeks. I’ll take the day off to take a test.”

“I’ll take the day off with you,” he interjected.

Felicity gave him a tight smile. “They were going to fire you?”

Tommy ducked his head and rubbed the back of his neck. “They pulled me in this morning, first thing, asking to have an emergency meeting. Informed me, again, that I’m probationary.”

“As if you don’t get that reminder every other week,” she grumbled, feeling sorry for him. He looked up at her with those puppy dog eyes of his and she shook her head. “Don’t give me that look. Continue.”

“Then Washington,” of course, always Washington, she thought, but let him continue, “informed me that the gentleman that we met in the elevator is his brother-in-law. Who called him up early Saturday morning to inform Washington of meeting me, us, really. Washington found a picture before you got it removed. They were unhappy with all of it, the fact that I drunkenly married someone in Vegas, not a mature thing to do, after all, the person that I married in Vegas…”

“They think I’m a gold digging slut,” Felicity said plainly. She reached out to take his hand. “This isn’t the first time I’ve heard that, Tommy. What do you think people thought about me when I originally was made Oliver’s EA? And then when I got this position?”

“That doesn’t give them the right, Felicity,” he said angrily. “How could I stand by and let them talk like that about you without doing anything about it?”

Felicity sighed. “I don’t care what they think about me, Tommy. I care about what they think of you. And you couldn’t very well have let them think that you’re the same person at 30 that you were at 21. All the work that you’ve done, out the window because you and I made a drunken mistake. No, of course you couldn’t let them think that.” She picked up the annulment forms that she’d printed off from the state’s website earlier in the morning and gave them a wistful glance. Then, she turned her chair around to push them through the shredder that was on the counter behind her. Tommy gave her a hopeful look as she turned back to face him and she shook her head. “Do you at least have a plan?”

“We’ll stay married for a year, move in together, your place, not mine, I don’t want you to have to give up your home when you’re the one doing me the favor. After a year, we’ll get a divorce, irreconcilable differences, the board will be happy because it looked like we tried and you didn’t try to gain control of the company like they think you want to.” Tommy said all of this in a rush, as if he expected her to say no at any point in time. “Oh, and that benefit on Saturday? Yeah, I need you to be my date to that.”

She shook her head in disbelief. “I can’t believe I’m agreeing to this.”

Tommy smiled slowly and pulled her out of her chair so he could wrap his arms around her tightly. “Felicity Smoak, you are the most kind, most understanding, most selfless person in the world, do you know that?”

She hugged him back, unwilling to let go, still overwhelmed. “You better never forget it.” Her door swung open then, and she left his grasp to see who would have barged into her office without knocking, not at all surprised to see Oliver standing there, Diggle standing a few feet behind Oliver, and playing with his phone. “Oliver! Haven’t we had the knocking talk before? This isn’t the IT department, you know.”

Oliver shrugged, eyeing the way Tommy still had his hand settled at Felicity’s waist. “Felicity, I came to see if you were free to have lunch with Digg and I. I didn’t know Tommy was here. Or that I would be interrupting anything.”

Tommy took a step away from her, removing his hand from her waist and said, “No, you’re not interrupting anything.”

“Tommy and I already have lunch plans, Oliver. But thank you for asking,” she said softly.

Oliver nodded and started to turn back towards the door, but changed his mind and looked at the two of them again. “Everything ok here?”

Felicity forced a smile and nodded. “Yeah, everything’s great. Why wouldn’t it be?”

“You look upset,” Oliver said, his fingers twitched at the side of his leg before he shoved his hands into the pockets of his suit pants. The corners of his mouth turned downward slightly as he eyed the two of them.

“I’m fine, Oliver. We’ll see you later, ok?” she said quietly. She and Tommy watched Oliver walk out, waiting for him to close the door before either of them spoke again. “What the hell are we going to tell them, Tommy?”

“The truth, I guess,” Tommy said. Felicity worriedly pulled at her bottom lip with her teeth and looked everywhere but at him. “Hey,” he said after a moment. She forced her eyes to meet his again. Tommy hesitantly reached out to cup her face, smoothing his thumb over her cheek. “We don’t have to do any of this. This isn’t your problem. I can figure out something else, Felicity.”

But Felicity shook her head, blinking away the tears that she felt welling up in her eyes. “No, you’ve worked damn hard to make Merlyn Global a company that people actually respect. I’m not going to let you throw that all away. We both made the mistake, Tommy. There’s no reason that you should be the only one punished.” She winced. “Not that it’s punishment to have to be married to you. That didn’t come out right.”

He smiled slowly, eyes crinkling at the corners. And again she was reminded that she couldn’t remember sleeping with this fine human specimen. “There it is.” Felicity blushed. “Come on, I’ll go pull the car around, take you out to lunch.”

“That sounds perfect. Let me send a quick email to let everyone know I’ll be out of the office for the rest of the day,” she said. He looked over at her in surprise and she shrugged her shoulders. “Mondays suck anyway. And we need to make an actual plan. We should tell the team tonight.”

Tommy nodded. “Ok. If that’s what you want.” He kissed her cheek, then made his way to the door. “I’ll pull up front, ok?” She nodded and he walked out her door, before turning and sticking his head back in. “By the way, you look really pretty today, Smoak. You look good in pink.”

He walked out the door and Felicity forced herself to take several calming breaths. Where had she heard that before?

* * *

She stepped out of the dress, affording him a better view of her. He smiled slowly, pulling her close. “Have I ever told you how good you look in pink?”

Felicity blushed and ducked her head, undoing the buttons of his shirt. “Not very fair that you’re still clothed.” She slid the shirt off him, letting it fall to the floor as he walked backwards toward the couch. Tommy pulled her onto his lap, and placed hot, open-mouthed kisses down her neck, as one hand pushed aside her lacy underwear. She gasped and arched her back as his thumb found that little bundle of nerves and began rubbing in slow circles. 

Felicity cupped his face with one hand, bringing his mouth back to her own in a heated, fervored kiss. Maybe she was being a little impatient, she realized, but after all the kissing and heavy petting in the cab and then in the elevator, the last thing she wanted to do with Tommy was move slowly. They had the rest of the night to go slowly. She ran her fingertips down his chest, undoing the button of his pants with quick fingers.

Tommy pulled his mouth away from hers and raised an eyebrow at her. “In a hurry?”

She grinned a little at him, then tugged at his pants. “Off.” She stood, pulling him off the couch with her. “Maybe a little,” she said as she unzipped his pants and pushed them, along with his boxer briefs, down, letting them pool at his feet. “But it was a long elevator ride and a longer cab ride.” 

Felicity pushed him back down onto the couch, then wriggled out of her panties before straddling him again. “I hope you don’t mind, but I really want you inside me.”

Tommy, slackjawed, shook his head. “Nope, no worries.” He grasped her hips, holding her in place for a second, “Condom?”

“Birth control.”

“Excellent.” He pulled her toward him then, slowly pushing his hard length inside her. “Fuck,” he said, drawing the word out. “You feel really good.” 

Felicity bit her lip as her body got used to the feeling of him inside her. She didn’t want to say it had been a while, but it had been a while. Tommy ran one hand up her stomach, cupping her breast through her bra, rolling her nipple gently through the lace. “Ok?” he asked her, looking at her with hooded eyes.

Felicity nodded and began circling her hips slowly from on top of him as he thrust into her. She grasped the back of the couch for leverage, leaning down to take his lips with hers once more, pulling at his bottom lip with her teeth gently, before slanting her lips over his. Felicity whimpered into Tommy’s mouth as their movements sped up. He’d moved his hand away from her breast to rub her with his thumb again and she could feel herself getting closer.

She grasped his shoulders, digging her nails into them, as the feeling grew more intense. “Shit, Tommy. Fuck,” she moaned as her body tensed up with her climax. He groaned a moment later with one hard thrust into her. She slowed her movements, drawing out his orgasm before finally collapsing on his chest.

They were silent for a few moments, both trying to catch their breath. “So, next time, you’re going to let me ravish you properly, right?” He asked.

“What makes you think there’ll be a next time?” she teased.

“Oh, there will be a next time,” he said confidently. “You really think you can resist all of this?” he asked, waving his hand down his body. Felicity snorted in response. “Come on, let’s get cleaned up.”

* * *

A few hours later, Felicity was wringing her hands, sitting with Tommy at the bar at Verdant, waiting for everyone else to meet them. Meeting at the club had been her idea, Tommy didn’t want to use the foundry (“Weapons, everywhere, Felicity.”) but meeting at the club a few hours before it opened seemed like a good idea. Tommy reached out and grabbed one of her hands, giving it a brief squeeze.

They spent the afternoon discussing arrangements, making plans. Her townhome had two bedrooms, and he knew how much she loved it, so he’d be moving in with her, staying in the extra room and selling his place. 

Thea was the first to arrive, already in her club clothes. She hugged them both, seemingly oblivious to how tense they were, although Felicity knew better than that. Thea saw all. Laurel and Sara were next, Laurel laughing at a joke her sister had told, she must have come over straight from work since she was still wearing her “lawyer” clothes, as Sara liked to call them. Oliver and Diggle followed, both still in their work clothes, although their suit jackets were off, and Oliver’s sleeves were rolled up his forearms.

“What’s this all about?” Laurel asked, looking at Felicity first, then Tommy, a tight smile on her face. Laurel’s reaction was the one that Felicity dreaded the most. Their friendship had been tentative in the beginning, and Felicity was concerned this would take them three steps back.

Tommy swallowed hard. “Well. Um. Felicity and I have some news.”

Felicity eyed Diggle as he took a step forward and crossed his arms over his chest. “You don’t say,” he said.

Tommy had offered to tell the team the news, but seeing Diggle’s reaction made her think maybe having Tommy talk wasn’t the greatest idea. She stood, standing slightly closer to Tommy, and spoke up. “So, remember the other night when Tommy and I went off on our own in Vegas?” She licked her lips, feeling Tommy’s hand twitch in her own, and continued. “We had a really good night, I showed him how to play poker and blackjack, and we got a lot of free drinks, and then we got married.”

“Really, Felicity? That was your plan?” Tommy asked her in a low voice.

She turned to look at him, “I panicked.”

“Is that all? Because you can get an annulment, right?” Sara was the first to speak up, while everyone else just continued staring in what Felicity hoped was shocked silence.

“Well, we could, but we aren’t. There were some...complications with that. Because the Board of Directors at Merlyn Global found out and threatened to fire Tommy,” Felicity said. “We’re going to stick it out for a year. And you guys need to keep our secret. Which should be easy, right? We all keep Oliver’s.”

“Oliver’s secret is literally the worst kept secret in Starling City,” Thea said with a smirk. “You do realize that, right?”

“Not really helpful, Thea,” Tommy said. Thea shrugged.

“A one night stand, Merlyn? Didn’t we talk about this the other day?” Diggle asked. 

Felicity was getting a little concerned. He had “big brother” face on. She unconsciously took a step closer to Tommy, placing herself between the two of them.

“Well, actually, what you said was that I better not hurt her. And I didn’t hurt her. I just married her. As one does,” Tommy said.

Felicity’s eyes widened and she turned to look at Tommy. “Tommy!” she hissed. “Seriously?” She looked back at Diggle. “You can’t just blame Tommy for this. He didn’t take advantage of me. It takes two to get married, right?” She watched the muscle in Diggle’s jaw tense, but he nodded. Once. That was good enough for her.

She looked at Sara, Laurel, and Oliver, who had all been silent the whole time. Laurel looked upset, her face pinched as she looked between Felicity and Tommy. Sara and Oliver, both standing stone-faced. Felicity didn’t know what they were thinking.

“So, let me get this straight,” Laurel finally said. “You two went out on Friday night, got drunk, and then married, and now you’re going to stay married? For a year. All this so Tommy can keep his job as CEO? Really?”

“What were you guys _thinking_?” Oliver asked irritably as he took a step forward. Sara reached out and placed a hand on his forearm, shaking her head.

“It’s pretty obvious that they weren’t, Oliver,” Laurel said, crossing her arms over her chest. “I can’t believe you two did something so stupid.”

“Wait a second,” Sara put a calming hand on Laurel’s shoulder. “They’re adults. Sure, they made a mistake, and they have to live with it. But they’re handling it. Everyone yelling at them isn’t going to help matters at all.”

“You know this is only going to end badly, right?” Laurel asked, looking at Sara, then back at Tommy and Felicity. “I can’t believe you two.”

“Laurel, come on,” Felicity started. But Laurel shook her head and stalked outside, heels clacking on the concrete floor on her way out. Sara gave them an apologetic look and ran after her sister.

“Anyone else?” Tommy asked, sounding resigned.

“I always thought it would be Ollie that would get drunk and married in Vegas. I think you guys are idiots. But it’s great. I knew something was going on with you at that club on Saturday,” Thea said with a wink. “I’m going to go get started on opening my club. Don’t break anything.”

“And then there were four,” Tommy murmured from behind Felicity. She turned her head to get a better look at him, his eyes were flitting between Diggle and Oliver, looking a little concerned for his life.

Oliver pressed his lips into a thin line, looking at Tommy. “Tommy, can I talk to you? In the foundry.”

Felicity rolled her eyes at Oliver. “Is that really necessary?”

Tommy squeezed her hand. “It’s fine, Felicity.”

She looked back at him and he gave her a faint smile. “Fine. But you better not hurt him, Oliver Queen. I will ruin you,” she said, turning an icy glare onto Oliver.

She watched Oliver and Tommy disappear into the back of the club and then turned to Diggle. “Well?”

Diggle frowned and closed the distance between the two of them. “I don’t like this, Felicity. He’s taking advantage of you.”

“John, I am a grown woman. Is this the ideal situation? No. But Tommy isn’t a bad guy, he’s a good friend. There are worse things that could happen than me having to pretend to be in love with Tommy Merlyn for a year. We all know that,” Felicity said quietly.

“I’m worried about you,” Diggle said, his eyes softening. 

Felicity sighed, remembering all the times he sat in front of her house, making sure she was safe from Slade and Malcolm, all the hours they spent training together, so she could defend herself. She reached out to touch his arm softly. “I know, and I love you for that. But this was as much my decision as it was his. All I’m asking is that you respect it.”

He nodded. “But if he hurts you...”

“You’ll kill him?” She said with a smirk. “I figured as much.” She looked in the direction that Tommy and Oliver disappeared off to. “You think he’s ok?”

“Tommy or Oliver?” Diggle asked with a smirk.

Felicity narrowed her eyes at him. Just what was that supposed to mean? “Tommy, of course.” 

He shrugged. “I’m sure he’s fine. Oliver won’t hurt him too badly.”

“Oliver doesn’t have a reason to hurt him at all,” she grumbled.

“Whatever you say,” he said with a grin. “How about a drink while we wait? This might take a while.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for all the lovely comments and kudos!


	4. Chapter 4

Tommy followed Oliver down the stairs to the foundry with a little bit of trepidation. Ok, a lot of trepidation. Oliver was awfully protective of his “Girl Friday,” even though no one seemed to be sure whether there were actual deep feelings there or if it was just Oliver being Oliver. He never did like to share his toys, it was _maybe_ the cause of their very first fight at five years old...and while Felicity wasn’t a toy, Oliver had certainly claimed her.

They stopped at the bottom of the stairs, Oliver walking over to the table and bracing his hands on it for a moment, before turning around and crossing his arms over his chest. “What is the matter with you?”

Tommy fought the urge to roll his eyes at his friend. “I don’t actually have to explain myself to you. You know that, right?” He leaned against Felicity’s desk, careful not to actually disturb anything, lest he want his temporary wife to kill him before his best friend had the chance to.

“What about Felicity? Did you explain yourself to her?” Oliver asked, arms still crossed as he leveled his friend with a hard look.

Tommy shook his head, not really understanding. “What the hell are you talking about?”

“Do you even know how this is going to affect her? Do you understand it? Or were you that concerned for yourself that you just put her in this position?”

Tommy narrowed his eyes at Oliver. “Oh, that’s rich coming from you.”

Oliver’s fingers twitched against his bicep. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

Tommy gripped the back of Felicity’s chair for a moment, trying to use it as a stress ball before he blurted out something stupid. “It means that two years ago, you put her in an even worse position, Oliver. When you made her your assistant. Do you even really know what she went through because of that? The things that were said about her because of your handy promotion? Do you know how many times I found her in tears because of the shitty things people were doing and saying to her?”

Oliver’s jaw clenched imperceptibly, but Tommy knew the other man well enough to notice it. “Which is why I moved her into a different position,” Oliver said as he picked up an arrow, studying the arrowhead as he tried not to look at Tommy directly.

“The difference between us, Oliver, is that I gave her the choice. Oh, I fucked up, believe me, no one knows it more than I do. But if she hadn’t agreed, I would have gone back to work and I would have told them the truth. I would have lost my fucking company, the one that I worked so hard to rebuild, but that would have been my fuck up. And I would have dealt with it.” Tommy sighed, running a hand over his face in frustration. “And you know, I have to be honest with you, I think you’re more concerned about the fact that you’re going to have to share Felicity with me than you are about how this is going to affect her personally and professionally.”

Oliver very nearly growled at him then and Tommy kind of wished he hadn’t been so brutally honest at that point. But it was out there and there was no taking it back. He still wasn’t really sure how to argue with post-island Oliver. Before they’d scream and yell and maybe smash shit because they were stupid and they didn’t have to pay money to fix a lamp, someone else would do it for them. Then they’d hug it out the next morning like it never happened, never really apologizing. But they’d been friends - no, _brothers_ \- long enough that they didn’t really need to apologize to one another. Forgiveness was just there, no matter what the other person did or said.

Fighting with post-island Oliver was a different kind of experience.

“Look, this is a messed up situation. It was stupid, and I know that, Oliver. I do. But here’s the thing, it is mine and Felicity’s messed up situation. We’re only asking you to keep our secret like we keep yours,” he said, eyes flitting around the tech gear and weapons in the foundry. “I’m done explaining myself to you, I’m sorry that you feel _betrayed_ or whatever it is that you feel, but I am done talking about it.”

With that, Tommy turned and walked up the stairs to get back to the bar, wincing at the sudden _thwack_ that he recognized as Oliver punching a dummy. When he got back upstairs, he was surprised to see that Felicity and Digg were drinking while Thea was wearing an amused grin behind the bar, looking over her stock. Felicity turned to look at him, eyes roaming over his body until he raised his hands and said, “I promise, no one threw any punches.”

She smiled weakly. “Good. I’d hate to have to ruin my boss. I kind of like my job.”

Thea snorted, shaking her head as she wrote something down on the clipboard she was holding. “You say that now, but you know Oliver’s a pain in the ass to deal with.”

Felicity shrugged. “Well, you know.” She turned her worried gaze back to Tommy. “But seriously, everything’s ok?”

“I think everything is as good as it’s going to get,” Tommy said lightly.

“He’ll come around,” Thea said.

Tommy met Digg’s eyes then, noting that the man didn’t look quite as angry as he did before. “He might want to start training early tonight though.”

Digg nodded, tossing back the rest of the scotch that Tommy knew he preferred. “I had assumed as much.” He stood and kissed the top of Felicity’s head. “See you tomorrow.”

“Night, Digg,” she called after him before turning her eyes back to Tommy. “You ready to do this?”

Tommy nodded, holding his elbow out for her to take. He looked down and smiled at her reassuringly when she wrapped her hand through his arm, squeezing in concern. “You worry too much,” he murmured as they walked away from their friends.

“Have you seen what I put up with on a daily basis? Worrying is like breathing at this point,” she said lightly.

Tommy recognized the truth in her words, even if she was trying to play it off as a joke. “Everything is going to be fine, Felicity. Really.” She nodded, even as she side-eyed him in that disbelieving way of hers as they walked out to the car.

A few hours later, Tommy had changed into his pajamas, or at least into a white undershirt and pajama pants, and was looking around his new room. They’d packed up the essentials from his place - his clothes, toiletries, groceries they didn’t want to go bad, the book he was slowly working his way through, and a few pictures and other odds and ends that he knew he’d actually want to keep. They planned to go back and sort through everything else over the weekend. Or Felicity did. He, on the other hand, planned on hiring some movers to put everything into storage and deal with it later.

Tommy grabbed his box of “Bathroom Stuff” as Felicity had labeled it and walked into the hallway, figuring he’d put his stuff up then head to bed, ready to put this day behind him.

Of course, as he was walking to the bathroom, Felicity walked out of it and they both froze. Her hair was in a messy ponytail, face devoid of any makeup, glasses on, short sleep shorts, and a tank top...with no bra. A detail that he was trying very hard not to get distracted by, especially since he knew exactly what those breasts looked like without a shirt or bra to cover them.

He must have been staring a little too long because she crossed her arms over her chest and a bright pink blush appeared on her cheeks. “This is my home, you can’t expect me to not get comfortable in my own home. Believe it or not, bras suck, Tommy Merlyn.”

He smiled slowly, he knew exactly how much bras sucked, having been on the wrong end of trying to get more than his fair share off of whoever the flavor of the night was...when he was that type of guy, anyway. “I didn’t say a thing, Felicity.”

“Right. Well, um, I was just,” she waved toward the bathroom, “getting ready for bed. I suppose you want to unpack, right?”

He looked down at the box in hand, “Yeah, yeah. That was the plan.”

She rocked back on her heels momentarily, looking as though she wanted to say something, but shook her head instead. “Ok. Well, I guess I’ll let you get to it.”

“Ok, yeah. Good night, Felicity,” Tommy said quietly.

“Night,” she said with a quick grin. She turned and headed down the hallway to her bedroom, peeking through the door one last time before she shut it and left him standing out in the hallway, feeling like a complete idiot.

Saturday morning, the day of the benefit, the last day their marriage would be a secret from his company, the last day of their relative peace, Tommy stared at the ceiling, listening to Felicity bang around in the bathroom. He glanced at the clock, it was 9:05, and realized that Felicity was probably rushing to meet Thea for a day of pampering. They were going for mani-pedis, hair, and makeup, all on Tommy’s dime. It wasn’t Felicity’s first time to a benefit, and it certainly wouldn’t be her last, but it was the first time she’d be introduced as his wife, and he knew she was nervous.

The last couple of days were...well, they had gone ok. They were still adjusting to each other, to living with another person, Tommy supposed. After all, he’d only sort of lived with Laurel for a month, maybe two, and as far as he knew, Felicity had never had roommates, having had her own dorm room at MIT.

In the four days that they had lived together, Felicity had used his soap once, completely irritated that she was going to smell like “rich CEO” all day, even after she’d washed off with her own flowery scented body wash. The day before, he’d gone to do some of his laundry and had come face to face with her lingerie. He didn’t know whether he should move the lacy underthings or if he should just let them sit in the washer. Was he supposed to hang them up? Was this a thing he was going to have to be concerned about for the next year?

And of course, Felicity had walked in to see him dangling the lacy red bra from his fingertip. Her eyes had gone comically wide as her face had turned as red as the bra he was holding. “What are you doing?”

He had looked at the bra, then at her, then damn near threw the bra in her face. “I wasn’t...I’m not…” Tommy sighed, then looked down at his own basket of clothing. “I just wanted to do some laundry.”

She had nodded, taking a deep breath before saying, “Ok. We knew this was going to happen, even if we didn’t realize we knew this was going to happen. It’s just clothes. Or, well, the things that go on under clothes. It’s just a bra. You’ve seen bras before. You’ve seen my bra before. Hell, you’ve seen me out of my bra before,” she’d squeezed her eyes shut for a moment and he could see her mentally counting backwards before her eyes flew back open. “It’s fine. I’m just going to do my thing, toss what can be dried into the dryer, hang up what needs to be hung up, and I’ll be out of your hair.”

Tommy had nodded at her dumbly, watching as she snapped up all of her laundry, fingers clenching when she pulled the pink bra from Vegas out of the washer. He’d spent the rest of his Friday bogged down by random thoughts of that pink bra, and even then, lying in bed on a Saturday morning, he groaned into his pillow as he imagined what she looked like in the red lingerie.

So apparently they were going to have to work out a laundry schedule.

The front door slammed, interrupting his thoughts, thankfully. He needed to stop thinking about Felicity that way. It would do him absolutely no good to go down that road with her again. Tommy finally got out of bed, deciding to spend the day unpacking the rest of his belongings and finally contact a realtor about putting his apartment on the market. He needed to stop the rumors about him being unhappy with his new wife before they had the chance to start. 

He could already see the headlines if he chose to keep the apartment and shook his head just thinking about it. “Is Felicity Smoak Not Keeping Her Man Happy? Tommy Merlyn Kept His Apartment and His Playboy Ways.” No, it definitely needed to go. Luckily, the movers had finished packing everything up and took it all down to storage two days before. So he called the realtor that Diggle had used when he bought his house and scheduled a meeting, then he finished unpacking before finally getting himself ready for the night.

Hours later, Tommy whistled low when Felicity walked out of her bedroom wearing a red dress that fit her like a glove. She looked gorgeous, as always, but he couldn’t help but wonder if she was wearing the red lingerie under it.

“You ready for this?” Tommy asked her in a low voice as he led her out to the limo that was taking them to the benefit.

“Ready for you to announce to the world that we’re married and for my relative anonymity to go away?” she asked, not looking him in the eye. “As I’ll ever be.”

Tommy frowned and grabbed her arm to stop her from ducking into the limo. “Felicity, we don’t have to do this. I can call it all off right now.”

Felicity kissed him on the cheek. “I know, and I know you would if I asked you to. It’s part of why I said yes, you won’t force me into anything that I don’t want to do. I’m just nervous, Tommy. Everything is going to be fine.” She squeezed his hand as she pulled her arm from his grasp and got into the limo, leaving him frowning after her before he got in himself.


	5. Chapter 5

Felicity played with the hem of her short, sparkly red dress nervously as they drove through town in their rented limo. She shouldn’t have listened to Thea, she was being announced as Tommy Merlyn’s wife tonight at a benefit for the people still affected by the Glades Earthquake. She should look the part of a powerful CEO’s wife.

Tommy reached for her hand, giving it a gentle squeeze. “Not too late to back out you know.”

Felicity snorted. “Stop trying to talk me out of this.”

“Then quit looking like you’re about to walk into a room full of fire breathing dragons,” he said.

Felicity rolled her eyes at him. “Please. Fire cannot kill a dragon.”

Tommy smiled widely, blue eyes crinkling in the corners in that way that always made you want to smile back. She hated that smile. “Alright, Khaleesi. Good thing, too, because we’re here.”

The driver came around to open their door and Tommy got out first, buttoning his tuxedo jacket before holding his hand out, which she took, allowing him to escort her inside. “By the way, I’ve been meaning to tell you that your legs look really great in that dress,” he said in a low voice, his lips a little too close to her ear for comfort.

Felicity flushed, ducking her head as she bit her lip. She looked up when she heard the clicking of the cameras. “Ms. Smoak! Mr. Merlyn!” She smiled at the photographers, hating how much the people of Starling City seemed to feed on the rich. This was a benefit, not a movie premiere, she thought sullenly. She hated even more that they already knew her name and expected her to smile with all the times she’s been to these things because of her connections to Oliver, Thea, and Tommy.

There was a rumbling in the crowd and she looked over her shoulder seeing Oliver, Thea, Laurel, Sara, and Diggle all walking up together. She smiled and rushed to hug Thea and Sara, unsure of whether she was allowed to hug Laurel or not until Laurel wrapped her arms around Felicity as Sara and Thea looked on. 

“I’m sorry,” Laurel whispered into her ear before pulling back and saying, “You look gorgeous, Felicity!”

Felicity grimaced, looking down at the short hemline. “Really? You don’t think it’s too…”

Laurel waved her hand, interrupting Felicity. “No. You look great. And who cares about the big announcement? At the end of the day, you look like you, and that’s what Tommy would want anyway.”

“Thanks. You look great, too! I love this color on you,” Felicity said. Laurel was wearing a strapless coral dress with beading along the neckline.

Laurel flashed her a grin before saying, “Are you ready for this? Just remember, we’re here for you.” Felicity nodded as Thea grabbed her hand and squeezed tightly. “Everything ok with them? They seem a little tense.”

Felicity looked over in the direction that Oliver and Tommy were standing in, posing for pictures together for the photographers. Laurel was right, they did look a little tense, Tommy’s smile didn’t quite reach his eyes while Oliver’s jaw was clenched through the fake smile, but she just shrugged. “I think some things were said the other day, Tommy said they’d be fine.”

Laurel clucked her tongue knowingly, but said nothing, instead just smiling for the cameras when the photographers turned on the women. The seven of them rushed inside as soon as they could, finally able to get away. She knew it was something she’d have to get used to, but Felicity was not a fan of having her picture splattered everywhere.

The minute they managed to escape and get themselves through the door, Tommy flagged down one of the servers and got all of them champagne. Felicity smiled gratefully at him as she was more than a little nervous, and more than a little sure she was going to need some liquid courage to get through the evening.

They were shown to their table, with Felicity seated between Diggle and Tommy, a wise choice, she thought. Thea on Tommy’s other side, with Laurel, then Sara, and finally Oliver on Diggle’s other side. She and Diggle chatted for a few minutes. She wondered if he felt as out of place at these things as she did, although you could never tell with him. He was always so good at hiding his emotions.

“How are you holding up, Felicity?” Diggle asked her after she ordered a glass of wine from their server.

She shrugged. “I’m fine. Nothing of note has happened yet, the secret isn’t out. So, I’m good.” She nudged him with a grin. “You look very dashing in your tux, Diggle. Too bad you didn’t bring a date tonight to show yourself off.”

He narrowed his eyes at her, but shook his head, amused. “You know I just haven’t met someone I’m interested in since Lyla.”

Felicity rolled her eyes and scanned the room, finding a pretty girl standing alone by the bar. “Look at her, she’s pretty,” she said nodding her head in the girl’s direction.

“Felicity,” he said, disapproval clear in his tone.

She pursed her lips and shrugged. “Just trying to help,” she said lightly. Diggle sighed, but chuckled. He should be used to it by now. If she was sure that Tommy and Oliver wouldn’t both go off the deep end, she’d try and set Laurel and Diggle up. She could use a stable man in her life, that was for sure.

The auction began as food was being served, and every now and again Tommy would duck his head in her direction, pointing out some ridiculously ugly painting that he thought would look “great in their living room.” She shook her head at him, trying not to laugh too loud, as it would be considered inappropriate in this crowd, but she couldn’t help but snort when Washington’s wife looked all too pleased with herself when she was the winner of an oil painting that was maybe supposed to be of a tree being served in a bowl. Maybe.

“What message do you think the artist is trying to deliver with that?” Tommy asked her in a low voice.

She had to bite her lip to keep her giggles from getting out, ducking her head at the stares from some of the patrons around them.

Felicity rolled her eyes as Tommy bid on, and won, a dinner for two that would be prepared by a private chef. (The auctioneer teased him, asking if there was a special lady that he was planning on inviting to the dinner, to which Tommy just smiled coyly.) Thea won a day at an exclusive spa for four, smiling triumphantly at Sara, Laurel, and Felicity, mouthing “girls’ night” when the auctioneer congratulated her. Oliver bid on a date night on a yacht that Felicity simply could not imagine him or Sara enjoying, considering their experience with yachts. They’d probably never end up using it, she thought to herself.

She was more than thrilled that the auction part of the evening was winding down and she didn’t have to spend her own money, when the auctioneer finally said, “And now, the man responsible for the evening, Tommy Merlyn!”

Tommy stood and bowed a little before taking the stage, and the microphone. “Thank you for being here tonight. As you know, the Glades Earthquake is something that affected me personally,” he said, his hand lingering on his left side where there was a pretty scary looking scar from the rebar. “Not only was I hurt in the quake, but my friends lost their businesses, all due to my father. More than that, others lost their lives, their homes, their own jobs. Tonight is dedicated to helping them rebuild, as that job is still not finished. And will not be finished until everyone in the Glades has a home again and can feel safe once more. Thank you for all of your help tonight.” 

He paused, allowing for applause, then looked at Felicity. “Also, I’d like to thank my wife,” she winced at the gasps that erupted in the room as he continued, “Felicity, for all of her help in building this organization and planning this benefit. I’m very lucky to have you in my life, Felicity Smoak. Now, if you all don’t mind, I’m going to go dance with my beautiful wife. Please, have a good time tonight. And don’t forget to visit the open bar.” He said the last part with a wink, then handed the microphone back to the auctioneer. Eyes never leaving hers, he walked toward her with a purpose, and, holding out his hand, he asked, “May I have this dance, wife?”

Felicity smiled and placed her hand in his, “Of course, husband.”

“What did you think of the announcement?” he asked her in a low voice, hand on her hip, pulling her close as the orchestra began to play.

“I think it could have used a little work,” she teased, placing one hand on his shoulder as he took the other in his own.

Tommy sighed dramatically. “This is going to be a rough marriage indeed.”

She snorted. “I’m not so tough to please. You’re doing ok.”

“Only ok?” He drew her closer to him, “Guess I’ll have to work on that.”

“And here I thought you knew how to please a woman, Tommy Merlyn,” Felicity said, grinning up at him.

Tommy’s jaw dropped before he chuckled. “And here I thought I’d already pleased you,” he said in a low voice, filled with such innuendo that she could feel herself blush. He wiggled his eyebrows at her. “If you want, we can go get a room and I can show you just how well I can please a woman.”

Felicity swatted at his chest, biting back a laugh. “I’m good, thanks though.”

He nodded. “I’ll just tuck that one in my back pocket to use later on.”

“You do that,” she said sweetly, rolling her eyes at him. She looked around the room, happy that the floor was filling up with more people dancing, that it didn’t seem like they were trying to give Tommy and herself an extra wedding dance. Sara was dragging Oliver to the floor, though it didn’t look like he was putting up much of a fight. She searched out Diggle, Laurel, and Thea, happy to see that Thea was chatting up some cute guy about her age. It had been a year since Slade killed Roy by injecting him with too much mirakuru. It had taken everything in Felicity’s power to not go after Slade herself.

Before the evening was over, Felicity danced with Diggle and Oliver a few times each. Every time Tommy would hand her off to Oliver or vice versa, she watched them carefully. Laurel was right, there was a touch of frostiness between them, but she decided to just chalk it up to the words that were said a few days before. They both probably said some things that they regretted, Tommy had declined to elaborate, and she assumed it would all boil over eventually.

What she hadn’t counted on was anyone else noticing the tensions between the two men. She was washing her hands in the bathroom when she heard a voice to her left. “Should we assume they’re fighting over you then?”

Felicity jumped, she’d thought she had the bathroom to herself and was surprised to see a brunette with curly hair and wide green eyes leaning against the bathroom wall in a simple purple dress. “Excuse me?” Felicity reached for a towel to dry her hands, trying to ignore the other woman.

“Oh, I’m sorry, I’m Ari Adams,” the woman said, sticking her hand out for Felicity to shake. Felicity ignored it, just staring until Ari shrugged, folding her hands in front of her again. “Congratulations on your marriage to Tommy.”

Felicity narrowed her eyes, who was this woman? “Thank you,” she said carefully, trying to step over to the door.

The corners of Ari’s mouth quirked up as she slid in front of the door gracefully. Felicity’s heart was racing, was she about to be killed in the bathroom by some crazy woman? But Ari opened the door for her, gesturing for Felicity to go first. “I’d love to get an inside scoop on your relationship, if that sounds like something you would be interested in.”

“You’re a reporter,” Felicity said, crossing her arms.

The other woman’s smile widened. “I am. But that doesn’t have to be a bad thing. We could be friends, we could be like sisters, Felicity.”

“Thanks, but Felicity already has a sister,” Thea said, coming up behind them with perfect timing. She tucked her hand inside Felicity’s arm, pulling her just a little bit closer. “Ari.”

Ari’s smile fell, just a little, Felicity noticed, before she smiled wider. “Thea, you could even join us. Tell us what you think of the newest addition to the family.”

“Oh, I can tell you that right now, Ari,” Thea said quickly. “Felicity’s the greatest thing to ever happen to Tommy, she’s a very welcome addition to our family. You and I don’t need a sit down for that.”

Tommy walked around the corner just behind Ari, Felicity’s clutch in his hand. “Felicity, I’ve been looking everywhere for you. I’d just sent Thea to find you…” he trailed off as he saw who she was speaking with. “Ms. Adams, what are you doing here?” he asked sharply.

“I’m on a date, if you must know,” Ari said, smile faltering once again.

“At my gala? Now, that is strange because you certainly did not receive an invitation from me,” Tommy said, pulling Felicity close to him. She was sandwiched between Tommy and Thea, both of them staring down Ari Adams like she was The Count in another life.

“Well, you know, if you have a date, you don’t need an invitation. I just had to come, there were rumors of a very big announcement happening tonight. And you know, you just didn’t disappoint, Tommy,” she said, her voice dripping in fake sugary sweetness.

“Great, then you got what you came here for,” Tommy held Felicity’s hand in a vise grip. “Now if you’ll excuse us, we’ll be leaving.”

The three of them began to walk past Ari, but she stopped them, calling out, “Wait, Tommy! Can I at least get a statement from you on your new marriage?”

He looked over his shoulder at her, “I’m very happy with Felicity, I love her very much, she’s the best thing that ever happened to me. I’m pleased to be open about our relationship here in Starling City, among the people we care about.”

“And your friends. Oliver, Laurel, are they happy for you?” she asked. Felicity flinched, the woman was very shrewd and quick on her feet, she’d have to give her that. She’d make an excellent addition to the team, if she wasn’t playing herself like a villain.

“They’re ecstatic,” Thea said, snapping at Ari. “And if you don’t mind, we’d like to go meet them.”

As soon as they got out of earshot, Felicity stopped them both. “What the hell was that?”

“That was Ari Adams. She’s a nightmare of a gossip columnist,” Tommy explained.

“She tried to date Oliver before becoming a writer,” Thea supplied, running a hand down her skirt. “When she realized she wasn’t going to become rich and famous, she started making up stories about the rich and famous.” She looked at Felicity critically. “I know you know how to deal with some of the photographers and such, but you are going to need to really learn how to handle yourself around people like her.”

“To be fair, neither of you gave me much of a chance,” Felicity pointed out.

Thea and Tommy traded looks. “That’s a fair point,” Tommy said carefully. “But she’s much harder than the rest. She’ll take anything you say and twist it into something else completely.”

“But you’ll learn, and we’ll teach you,” Thea said. “We won’t step in like that again unless you ask.”

Felicity studied them both, she didn’t want protectors, but she supposed she could let it go this time around since they seemed to have experience dealing with the woman. She nodded. “Ok then. Are we leaving?”

Tommy’s hand danced at the small of her back, she could feel his fingers twitching through the fabric of her dress as he guided her through the hallway. “We are. Or we were. Would you like to stay or are you ready to leave?”

She leaned into him, suddenly exhausted. “I’m ready to leave.”

He nodded and wrapped his arm around her waist, pulling her close. “Me, too, let’s go home.” He kissed the side of her head and she pretended not to notice the way Thea was smirking next to them. They’d always been affectionate with each other, this was nothing new.

They walked out to the front together, waiting on the driver to pull around as Thea left to go join the others. “How’d we do?” Felicity asked in a quiet voice.

“You did great,” Tommy said, rubbing circles over her hip with his thumb. “Me on the other hand, I was terrible.”

She smiled into his chest, about to correct him, but stopped when she saw Washington and his wife walking up to them. “Tommy, Felicity, it’s like the two of you have been hiding all night. I’d wanted a chance to get to know your wife.”

“It’s my fault,” Felicity interjected. “I was nervous about tonight. I’ve been to these before you know, but never one where I’d have to be the center of attention like tonight.”

“It’s nerve wracking, isn’t it, dear?” Mrs. Washington said. She smiled politely. “I’m Eleanor, by the way. It’s lovely to meet you, Felicity.”

“You as well, Eleanor,” she said softly.

“We’ll leave you two alone, but we’d love to have you both over for dinner sometime, after you’ve gotten into the swing of things. Married life can take some getting used to,” Eleanor said with a wink.

Felicity flushed. “That would be lovely.”

Eleanor reached out to squeeze Felicity’s hand. “Wonderful. You just let your young man know when, and we’ll be ready.” She pulled her husband away, mumbling something about “letting the kids have a moment to themselves” to him and Felicity had to stifle a laugh.

“She seems nice,” Felicity said once they’d walked away.

“Oh, Eleanor is wonderful, it’s her husband that’s the asshole,” Tommy said. He ushered her into their car when it pulled up and pulled her legs into his lap, allowing her to get comfortable. At some point during the ride home, Felicity dozed off, waking only when Tommy was carrying her up the stairs to her townhome. She kissed his cheek, going straight to bed after washing her face.

The next morning, she awoke early, opening the door to get the paper. She was surprised to see a copy of SC Weekly on top of it with a picture of her standing between Oliver and Tommy and a headline that read, “Merlyn Married: Are These CEOs Feuding Over Another Woman?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always thanks to girlwithsixsmiles for betaing! And thanks for all the kudos and comments. You guys are wonderful.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks, as always, to girlwithsixsmiles and absentlyabbie. You know why.

Tommy closed the door a little louder than he’d meant to as he tried to juggle the Chinese food, his briefcase, and his suit jacket. “Tommy?” Felicity called from the other room. 

“Yeah, it’s me,” he called back. “I picked up Chinese. I wasn’t sure if you’d be here tonight or, you know, elsewhere.” With the team, potentially putting yourself in danger, he thought. He loved what they did for the city, but every now and again, when Felicity came back to the foundry with a bruise or cut from a mission...It just didn’t seem worth it to him.

“The paparazzi are making it a little hard for me to do that, actually,” she said as he put his briefcase on the counter and walked into the other room with the food. “And it’s fine, they can afford to give me a few days off, I guess.” He looked her over as she chewed on her thumbnail, checking into the various servers from her tablet.

“You sure about that?” he asked with a grin. He handed her the box labeled “Orange Chicken,” pleased to see the smile brightening her face. “What are we doing tonight?” He dropped himself onto the other end of the couch, taking his tie off and unbuttoning the first few buttons of his shirt. 

He could feel, rather than see, the long look she gave him out of the corner of her eyes. “You’re letting me choose?” 

He shrugged, popping a crab rangoon into his mouth. “Why not? New Tuesday tradition? Chinese food and movies?” 

“Takeout and movies? Doesn’t have to be Chinese every time, does it?” She wrinkled her nose, rather adorably, at him. “Because I like other types of takeout, too, you know.” 

“Noted,” he said with a grin. “But that still doesn’t answer the original question.” 

“Oh, right. Um…” she tilted her head, pretending to think about it. “You still aren’t caught up on _Doctor Who._ ” 

“That first episode is so bad, Felicity! With the creepy mannequins. Come on,” he teased. Although he wasn’t really joking. The first episode of the ninth doctor? Not his favorite. 

She poked him in the thigh with the tips of her toes. “But Nine is so good! And then you get to Ten and Eleven and you get to feel your heart break 1000 times. It’s worth it.” 

“I feel like that’s what you said to me about _Game of Thrones,_ too. I’m still not sure that was worth it,” he grumbled. Felicity shrugged, flipping through Netflix until she found what she was looking for. “Looks like I don’t really have a choice in the matter.” 

“You said you were letting me choose,” she teased. They finished eating their takeout during episode two of _Doctor Who._ By the end of the third episode, her feet were tucked under his thigh. “They’re cold and the blanket’s too far,” she’d said as he pretended to glare at her. 

She’d dozed off by the end of “Aliens in London,” but protested when he said they’d pick it up the next day. “It’s a two-parter, you have to watch the next part.” 

And so he’d stayed up, pretended not to notice when she fell asleep completely, snoring lightly. When the episode was over, he turned off the TV and scooped her into his arms. She nuzzled her head into his chest as he carried her up the stairs, and his heart broke, just a little bit, in the knowledge that none of this was real. Sure, they’d had movie nights before, just the two of them, and they might continue after they divorced, but he had a feeling that it would eventually just make things awkward between them. 

He privately wondered if this mistake would hold Felicity back from a real relationship at some point. He was certain that she’d find someone, but would that man be understanding about her hanging out with her ex-husband on a weekly basis? He suppressed a groan. She still hadn’t taken a pregnancy test, the date was circled on the calendar in the kitchen. _Just a few more days,_ he thought. What if she was pregnant, would she find a good guy willing to help her raise some other man’s kid? 

Had he completely fucked up her life? 

Tommy settled her into her bed, carefully peeling the covers back before he did so. He took her glasses off and set them on the nightstand after he covered her up. She’d had a stressful few days with everything that had happened, he knew she could use the rest. It was only going to get worse. Tommy reached out and smoothed her brow before he pressed a light kiss to the crown of her head, careful not to wake her up. 

He stared at his ceiling for a long time after that, trying in vain to fall asleep as he wondered if things would get back to normal between them after they divorced. He couldn’t help his thoughts immediately straying back to how her life was going to be after this was all over. What if she was pregnant? What if they had a kid? 

He couldn’t help but wonder if he should have never befriended the cute IT girl in the first place. 

*           *           *

 Tommy walked out of the foundry’s bathroom, towel drying his hair after a shower. He had just finished a workout with Oliver and Digg, one that left him flat on his back on the mat for a good fifteen minutes after the fact, allowing each of them to get their own showers in. He was surprised to see Felicity sitting at her desk alone, no sounds of anyone else training, just the sound of her tapping the desk. 

“Did everyone else go home?” he asked as he got closer. 

Felicity spun around in her chair. “Tommy! You scared me.” Her eyes roamed over him. “You’re not wearing a shirt. Why aren’t you wearing a shirt?” He cocked an eyebrow at her, thinking she should be used to the parade of shirtless men walking around the foundry. “Well, it’s just...You always look so put together, even when you’re in your gym clothes, it’s weird, you not wearing a shirt. You might as well be naked. I mean, not naked.” She sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose as Tommy grinned at her. He knew that Oliver usually stopped the babbling, but he’d always found it cute, he hated to stop her. “Oliver and Digg left a little while ago. Oliver wanted to visit his mother with Thea, Digg went to visit Carly.”

Tommy pulled on his undershirt, then pulled on the button-up shirt that he’d worn that day and slowly buttoned it, thinking for a moment while she watched the monitors. “You want to do something?” 

She spun around again, looking at him. “What?” 

“Well, it’s not like you need to watch the monitors. Everyone else is gone. We could get a bite to eat, watch a movie, whatever,” he said with a careless shrug. He shoved his hands into his pockets, desperate to keep his nervous energy reined in. He couldn’t help but want to get to know Felicity a little better, she’d helped him on a couple of small things with Merlyn Global since the Undertaking had happened, but they still didn’t really _know_ each other. 

She studied him for a moment, making him feel a little like he was the nerdy kid in middle school, but finally nodded. “Sure. That sounds great. Pizza and beer at my place? We can rent something there, if you want.” 

*           *           *

The next morning, Shirley knocked on Tommy’s office door, waking him out of a daze he was in from his lack of sleep the night before. “We really should be sending these callers up to PR, Tommy. It’s getting ridiculous.” She crossed her arms. “I know you don’t ask much of me, but I’m certain that it isn’t in my job description to tell these journalists that you have no comment on the news of your marriage.” 

Tommy dropped his head and rubbed at his temples. Not only was he exhausted, he had a raging headache to go with the exhaustion. “I know, I know, Shirley. I’m sorry. But this really doesn’t have anything to do with the company. They don’t want the company’s statement, they want to talk to me.” Still, she knew he was right. “If you just want to forward them all to me from now on, you can.”

She pursed her lips, instantly causing him to think of his grandmother who always did that before she scolded him. “The PR team works _for you_ , Tommy. It would be in your best interests to talk to them about it.” He frowned in response and she sighed. “Think about it. Mr. Menken is also here to see you. Would you like me to send him in?” 

Tommy sat up straight in his chair and straightened his tie. Christopher wanted to see him? For what? He couldn’t imagine it was just a social call. “Sure, go ahead. And thanks, Shirley.” 

She gave him a few minutes, as per usual. She once told him it was a power play, something his father did, to make the people dropping in whenever they felt like it uncomfortable. He’d told her he didn’t want to be anything like his father, but she insisted. 

“You’re the CEO, Tommy,” she’d told him his second day. “You can’t just let people think you’re available whenever they want you to be. Every now and again, with some employees, that’s ok. But other people, and you’ll realize which ones eventually, those people need to be reminded of your position. You’re not here to meet their needs. They’re here to meet yours.” 

Tommy still wasn’t sure if he’d agreed with that advice, but he had to admit it pleased him greatly to make someone like Washington wait ten minutes while he played 2048 or Free Cell on his computer. 

“Tommy, good of you to see me,” Christopher said as he walked in the office. 

Tommy sat back in his chair, gesturing for the other man to sit. “What can I do for you?” 

Christopher sat and messed with the buttons on his suit jacket, a trait of his that Tommy knew meant he was nervous. “I came to apologize.” 

“Apologize?” Tommy crossed his arms and leveled his friend with a look. 

Christopher sighed and leaned forward, placing his elbows on his knees. “I was wrong, we all were, about Felicity. She’s really lovely. And I’m sorry, for the things I said about her.” 

Tommy stared at him for a moment before smiling. “Thank you. She’s...Honestly, she’s the best thing that ever happened to me.” 

“I can see that. We all can. Well, maybe not Washington,” Christopher said with a wry smile. “But the rest of us, we can all see how much you two mean to each other. It’s great. We’re happy you finally found someone.” 

“Thank you, Christopher,” Tommy said with a nod. 

“Now, what are the odds that we could sway her over to the company? You know she’s brilliant, Tommy. I didn’t get to talk to her for long, but anyone can see that. The work she does for QC is outstanding,” the other man said, smoothing his gray tie over his dress shirt. 

Tommy shook his head. “Not going to happen.” 

Christopher chuckled and stood up, holding his hand out for Tommy to shake. “I kind of thought you would say that. But really, congratulations again. She’s good for you. And she might even help your image. Which would be a miracle.” Christopher winked at him before he walked out of Tommy’s office. 

*           *           *

“Are you ready to go, Felicity?” Tommy asked her from the front door. He tossed his keys from one hand to another, trying to keep his nervous energy down. This was it, this was the day they’d find out if she was pregnant or not. He’d taken the morning off, unfortunately he couldn’t get out of the meeting that he had later in the afternoon. 

She rushed down the stairs, smiling at him apologetically. The plan was for them to drive to the closest drugstore, he’d keep the car idling out front while she ran in and grabbed the test. He wrapped an arm around her waist, holding her closely to him as they walked outside. They did their best to ignore the photographers standing across the street from them, even as they chanted their names. 

He studied her face as he got her into the car safely. Her cheeks were flushed, eyes downcast. She was tired, he knew, tired of wondering whether or not she was pregnant, tired of dealing with being followed. He had the feeling that she’d been harassed once or twice at work, although she’d never said anything about it. He didn’t want to sweep the issues under the rug, but whenever he asked her about them, she just waved him off, not wanting to talk about it. 

It was a quick trip, there and back in twenty minutes. She drank a bottle of water after they returned and immediately dashed to the bathroom. “How’s it coming in there, Felicity?” he asked her through the door. 

“Tommy, you asking me how it’s going every 30 seconds isn’t going to help me pee any faster,” she said. “Actually, I think you’re making it worse.” 

“I’m making it worse? How am I making it worse?” He leaned against the wall and crossed his arms over his chest. 

“I feel like you’re standing outside literally waiting to hear the sound of me peeing. It’s gross, actually. Go away.” He frowned at the door, but wandered away to the kitchen. They hadn’t eaten breakfast yet, he figured he’d make omelets while they waited. 

The second one was nearly done cooking when she finally came out of the bathroom, face flushed, but a smile on it nonetheless. “Not pregnant! I told you there was nothing to worry about!” 

Tommy exhaled a breath he didn’t realize he was holding. It was like 300 pounds had been lifted off his shoulders. He wrapped his arms around her, squeezing her tightly as he spun her around. “Holy shit, Felicity. That’s the best news I’ve heard all week.” 

Felicity kissed his cheek when he put her down. “I know. I can’t even imagine...Us having a baby? Not the greatest idea.” 

He slid her omelet off the plate and handed it to her, before he took a seat at the small breakfast bar. “Thank goodness. I was more than a little worried I’d fucked up your life.” 

“Really, Tommy? It takes two, you know. You need to let go of all this guilt. Neither of us are perfect angels here,” she said, pointing her fork at him. 

“I know, I know,” he said, running a hand through his hair. “But you don’t understand. All I’ve thought about for the last couple of weeks is how all of this is going to affect you. When we divorce, are you going to be able to find a guy that’s willing to put up with you hanging out with both Oliver Queen and your ex-husband all the time?” Felicity snorted and rolled her eyes. “And then, if you were pregnant. Hell, Felicity, do you even know how few guys would step up and help raise another man’s child?” 

Felicity set her plate down on the counter, placing both hands on either side of it and leveled him with a hard stare. “Tommy. Do you really think that with everything I’ve got stacked against me when it comes to finding and hanging on to a guy, ‘being a divorcee that spends too much time with her ex’ is one that I’m worried about? Because it’s not. I work too much, I’m a vigilante. Add in the abandonment issues, my insecurities, the occasional brush with the law, and of course, my ability to say the exact wrong thing at any given time, and you’ve got some actual serious reasons that I can’t find a guy.” 

Tommy stared at her, but she just shrugged and waved him off. Was she really not concerned with the consequences of their actions or was she just trying to make him feel better? 

“You need to stop worrying about my future so much, Tommy,” she said softly, a serious look in her eyes behind the glasses. “I’m not.” 

They watched a few more episodes of _Doctor Who_ before he had to make an appearance at work. The rest of his day went by quickly with only a handful of meetings he had to deal with. No one was going to ruin his good mood, he’d decided. Not even Washington would ruin the day for him. 

On the way home, Tommy decided he’d stop and pick up some sushi and a bottle of wine since they’d been avoiding both just in case. When he got inside, he set the items down on the kitchen counter, surprised to find the TV off and the living room empty. 

He walked upstairs, wondering if she’d taken a nap while he was gone. She usually sent him a text if she wasn’t going to be home at all. On his way to her room, he stopped at the bathroom. The light was on and the door open, which was kind of odd, since they were both pretty good at turning out the lights. What he didn’t expect was to see Felicity relaxing in the bathtub covered in bubbles from the collarbone down. Her hair was piled on top of her head, glasses set aside on the edge of the sink. Part of her legs were sticking out above the bubbles and his traitorous mind filled him with a vision of being between her knees, kissing up her thighs...Sometimes he wished he couldn’t remember what they did in Vegas. 

“So, um, you’re taking baths with the door open now?” Tommy asked, eyes closed even as he couldn’t move from his spot at the door. He clenched the doorknob when he could hear her moving through the water. 

Felicity shrieked. “Seriously, Tommy? What are you doing? Close the door! I’m very wet and naked and _shit_ I didn’t mean for that to come out the way it did. But I’m in the bath and--- What are you doing here?” 

Tommy quickly shut the door and pressed his forehead to it while he spoke through the door. “I live here. Married, remember? I thought you were taking a nap, I saw the light on, I was going to turn it off. I brought home sushi and wine and I thought you’d want some.”

“I...Yeah, ok. I’ll be down in a few. I just need to rinse off,” she called back to him. He heard her slide out of the bathtub and realized she was probably standing in the middle of the bathroom, naked and slick and _fuck_ he was going to need to take a cold shower before the night was over.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for all of your kudos and comments, it really means the world to me!


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! I'm sorry this update has taken me so long! And that I've gotten horribly behind on replying to the lovely comments that have been left. I promise I read them all and I love them more than you know. Thanks so much for reading!

Felicity looked at the photographer in horror, replaying the words she just said to him in her mind.

_“Well, we did get married in Vegas, and we were pretty enthusiastic about our wedding night. I thought it would be prudent to take a pregnancy test.”_

Well, shit.

“So, you’re confirming that there is the possibility that you and Mr. Merlyn could be expecting?” the man asked her with a slow grin. “And if that’s the case, what are you doing at a bar?”

Felicity blinked slowly at the man, wishing that she could have just a little bit of peace, just a tiny vacation from being harassed when she heard the door to the club opening. “Haven’t you heard? Her best friend slash sister-in-law owns it,” Thea said, saving the day once again as she and Diggle joined them outside. “And I don’t know if you realize this, but I have a strict no paparazzi rule here at my club.”

“And seeing as how it’s not regular business hours, you won’t be joining us. Do I need to show you to your car, or can you handle the walk yourself?” Diggle asked, crossing his arms over his chest, managing to look even more imposing in his tight black t-shirt and sweats, than he usually did in his suit. Felicity felt a pang of guilt that there was a training session going on, one that she wouldn’t usually take part in anyway, but she hated that life was going on in the foundry and there was no way for her to take part of it.

The photographer’s face fell. “I can handle it.” Diggle opened the door and ushered the women in while he watched the photographer leave.

“Thanks, guys,” Felicity said, fidgeting with her glasses. “I feel like I haven’t been able to leave the house in weeks. I just snapped.”

“Hey, it’s ok. You don’t have to explain yourself to me,” Thea said. She gave Felicity a quick hug. “Don’t worry, once the novelty of a Merlyn marriage wears off, they’ll leave you alone.”

“I hope you’re right,” Felicity said.

“I could drive you around for a little while,” Diggle offered.

“I appreciate the offer,” Felicity said quietly, laying her hand on his arm. “But I really don’t think that’s necessary. They’ll get bored eventually, like Thea said.”

“Come on, let’s go get you a drink, and you can tell me all about how you and Tommy have bonded since the wedding,” Thea said, eyebrows wiggling.

“And I’m out,” Diggle said, turning around and walking toward the back of the club.

“You scared Diggle away,” Felicity said, rolling her eyes at Thea.

“That’s good. Girl talk. Just you and me. I feel like I haven’t seen you in ages.” Thea stepped behind the bar as Felicity slid into a bar stool. “Lemon drop martini?”

Felicity hummed in response. “Sounds good, actually. And you haven’t seen me in forever because I can’t leave my house or work or go to the damn pharmacy without being hounded. How do you do this all the time?”

Thea shrugged, reaching behind her to grab a lemon. “I just do. You get used to it. You realize that there are certain things that you can do that they aren’t allowed to print. Once they realize you aren’t going to give them what they want, they stop following you around. Why do you think Kristen Stewart is always flipping the camera off?” She slid the finished drink in front of Felicity before getting herself some water. “We should spend the day together soon. I’ll show you the ropes.”

Felicity smiled. “That sounds great, actually. I could use some new shoes. Shopping? Lunch? Manicures?”

“Yes, yes, and yes,” Thea said with a nod. “Now, tell me about this trip to the pharmacy?”

Felicity took a sip of her martini before explaining. “I mean, there’s not much to tell. Tommy and I _obviously_ had sex the night of our marriage. We just wanted to make sure we weren’t pregnant.” She shrugged. “I guess someone saw us there and the guy who was following me in here asked me about it.” She paused. “I might have told him that we had an enthusiastic wedding night.”

Thea threw her head back as she laughed. “Are you serious? Oh, Felicity.” She walked around the bar and took a seat next to her friend. “Well, at least he might leave you alone for the day. I mean, with a soundbite like that one…” Thea trailed off and grinned. “So tell me. How was the sex? Was it as enthusiastic as you let him believe?”

Felicity could feel the heat rising in her cheeks. “Thea. Tommy is your _brother._ ”

Thea rolled her eyes, twisting in the stool so she could lean against the bar and cross her legs in front of her. “First, he’s my half-brother. Second, I didn’t know that until, what, two years ago? Third, I totally had a crush on him and tried to kiss him four years ago. Yes, Tommy is my brother. But not in the way that I grew up thinking that way about him. Not like Oliver.” She poked Felicity in the side. “Come on. It’s been ages since you’d even gone out on a date, the way you stay locked up in that basement. I’m not asking you how big he is. Just give me some details.”

Felicity sighed. “I don’t remember everything. But…” she trailed off, picking at the martini glass. “From what I do remember, it was _good._ ” Thea stared at her and Felicity shrugged. “I don’t know what you want me to say. Tommy knows what he’s doing in the bedroom, ok? I was pleasantly sore the next day, he maybe had some bite marks and scratches proving how enthusiastic I was.”

“You really don’t remember?” Thea asked softly.

Felicity shook her head. “I don’t. I have some fuzzy memories of naked limbs and getting cozy in an elevator, Tommy telling me I ‘look good in pink.’” She blushed again at that memory, feeling that familiar tug in her stomach as she remembered the look on Tommy’s face as he made the comment. The way his eyes had roamed her body. “But I don’t remember most of our night.”

“That is very sad. Have you guys thought about fixing that little problem? Trying to get your memories back?” Thea asked with a wiggle of her eyebrows.

Felicity shrugged. “You know it’s a fake marriage.”

“I know that the two of you have agreed to be ‘married’ for a year and that means that you aren’t hooking up with anyone else during that year,” Thea said. She took a sip of her water. “That doesn’t mean you have to be celibate. And Tommy’s pretty great. I mean, there are worse people you could fake marry.”

“We don’t want to make things awkward,” Felicity said. “I mean, things are already awkward enough.” She bit her lip, remembering Tommy walking in on her in the bathtub the night before. She didn’t know whether to scream at him or ask him to join her.

Although if she were completely honest, she’d wanted to ask him to join her. Not that she’d ever admit that aloud. No, instead she’d shrieked at him, taking the easy way out. She bit her lip, remembering the way his eyes wandered lazily up her legs like he was taking her in before he finally met her eyes.

“What are you thinking about?” Thea grinned. “You kind of got lost there.”

“Nothing, nothing. Sorry. Listen, thank you, for the drink, and, you know, for saving me out there. So shopping and lunch tomorrow?” Felicity had actually planned to do some updates to the systems downstairs, that’s why she’d stopped at Verdant in the first place.

“Of course, Felicity,” Thea said, waving her hand. “What are friends for?” Felicity squeezed Thea’s arm before wandering down to the foundry. She remembered the night she and Thea became friends. They’d known each other, of course, but they weren’t close until Roy passed away. 

*           *           *

“Roy didn’t overdose, Felicity, I know he didn’t. The cops don’t know what they’re talking about,” Thea managed to say through her tears. Felicity put her arms around the younger girl, patting her shoulder awkwardly. “He doesn’t do that kind of thing anymore.”

Felicity looked at Oliver pointedly. They were sitting in Thea’s office in Verdant, Oliver’s arms crossed over his chest as he watched Felicity comfort Thea. Felicity had immediately walked over to the younger girl, putting her arms around Thea as Officer Lance told them the news that they found Roy’s body, that his death appeared to be caused by a drug overdose, but that it would take a few weeks to get the autopsy and toxicology results back to be sure.

Oliver shook his head at her, knowing what she was getting ready to say, but she plowed ahead anyway. “I believe you, Thea.”

Thea pulled away, her eyes searching Felicity’s face. “You do? You believe me?”

“I do,” Felicity said. She reached out for the tissues on the coffee table in front of them, handing Thea one from the box. “I do, because I know you’re right. This was no accident.”

Oliver’s jaw clenched, and she knew that she’d get hell for what she was telling Oliver’s younger sister, but she couldn’t bring herself to care. Diggle and Tommy walked up behind Oliver, Diggle having offered to call Tommy when Lance appeared with the bad news. “Felicity,” Oliver began.

“No, Oliver. She deserves to know the truth. It isn’t right, all these secrets that are being kept from her,” Felicity said, looking between him and his sister.

Oliver’s fingers twitched against his biceps. “I think that’s probably my decision to make. She’s _my_ sister.”

“And mine,” Tommy spoke up from behind him. “And I agree with Felicity.” Felicity smiled at him gratefully, glad to have someone on her side. “If you don’t tell her, Oliver, I will.”

“Somebody had better tell me something,” Thea said, her eyes dry from crying as she dabbed away at the tears. “I don’t appreciate all these secrets.”

Oliver frowned. “Everybody out. This is between Thea and I.”

Felicity took Thea’s cell phone out of her hand and programmed her cell phone number into it before she left the room. “Call me, if you need anything. I mean it, you don’t have to go through this without a friend.”

Thea smiled gratefully at her as she left the room, shutting the door to the office carefully. Tommy and Diggle were staring at her in shock. “I can’t believe you just did that,” Tommy said. “I don’t know whether to be impressed or scared for your life.”

“Thea has too many secrets being kept from her. We use her club as our secret meeting place. It’s Slade and Isabel’s fault that Roy is dead,” Felicity explained. “She already had to hear from Slade that you’re her half-brother. She needs to start getting information from the people in her life, otherwise she’s going to leave and we’re never going to see her again.” 

*           *           *

“Dearheart, you’re home,” Tommy said, dropping a kiss on her forehead as she walked into the kitchen. She’d spent more time at the foundry than she had originally intended, but she was able to update the systems that she wanted to take care of, and she got some updates from Sara and Oliver on some missions that they’d been able to take care of. Just small things, but they were also working on getting some intel on a potential new baddie that they might eventually need her help with. “You want to go out to dinner with me tonight?”

“First of all, _dearheart_? What is that supposed to be?” Felicity asked, leaning against the counter and taking a sip from his water glass. She studied him, taking in the way he filled out his plaid button up and the dark wash jeans that he favored. Thea was right, she really lucked out in having a fake marriage with Tommy, of all people. It wasn’t half bad having him around to look at all the time. “Second, dinner sounds nice.”

“I’m trying out pet names. We don’t have any for each other,” he explained. “Couples have nicknames.”

“Do they?” she teased. “I wasn’t aware.”

His eyes crinkled, even as he tried to frown at her. “They do. I’m trying to make us look more official.”

“Well, dearheart isn’t the way to do it.” She ached to touch him, while simultaneously wondering where that feeling, that need to touch him, was coming from all of a sudden. They were handsy people before the marriage, but after it seemed that they had taken a step back in an effort to not make things even more complicated. They still touched, but there was a line that they simply did not cross. “I promise, buttercup.”

Tommy laughed and crossed his arms over his chest as he moved closer to her, boxing her in against the counter. “Buttercup’s no good.”

She pouted as she craned her head back to look at him. “But I _like_ buttercup.”

“I tell you what, sweetums,” he bopped her on the nose before placing his hands on the countertop, dangerously close to her hips. “You can call me whatever you want, so long as it’s not buttercup.”

“Honeybear? Dollface? Chickpea?” Felicity asked, biting her lip to suppress her laughter.

Tommy smirked, surprising her by tickling her sides. “How about something a little more manly, muffin?” he suggested over her shrieking. She twisted in his arms, inadvertently brushing her hand against his crotch and feeling him harden, just a little bit, causing them both to freeze. His blue eyes widened as they searched her face, lingering on her mouth for just a moment before he took a step back and swallowed hard. “So…Um.”

“Dinner! You wanted to take me to dinner,” she said, sucking in a breath. “I should go change. I was down in the foundry for a little while. Updating software. As you do.”

“Right. Well, just change into something casual. You know. I’m ready whenever you are.”

“Ok! Give me just a few minutes,” she ran upstairs, trying to ignore the fact that she was racing away from the most awkward hard-on ever. She didn’t even know that happened to guys their age. To guys like Tommy. To _experienced_ guys. She brushed her hair hurriedly, ignoring how flushed her face looked in the mirror. Felicity changed into a dress and slipped into some flats, before taking a few deep breaths then rejoining Tommy downstairs.

“You good to go?” he asked, not meeting her eye. She nodded her response and followed him out the door, hoping things would get slightly less awkward on the drive to the restaurant. “So I was thinking, maybe we could take a little vacation soon. Just for the weekend, get away from Starling City and the stress.”

“Oh? Where are you wanting to go?” she asked, watching the traffic out the window.

“I thought maybe we could visit Barry and Iris,” he suggested. She glanced over at him, and smiled at the way he was side-eyeing her, waiting out her response.

“You want to go to Central City for the weekend?”

“Well, yeah, why not? When was the last time you saw Barry?” He paused. “I just thought, if we kept it secret, just told them we’re planning on visiting, Iris could make sure it stayed out of the blogosphere, we’d get away from all the paparazzi.”

“It would be fun,” Felicity said softly. “It sounds like a great idea.” She hadn’t seen Barry in months, although she texted with he and Iris almost daily. She grabbed his hand and squeezed it tightly, trying to communicate her thanks.

“Great, so I’ll just have my secretary call your secretary and we’ll set it all up,” he teased.

“Oh, I’m sure we can do better than that. I bet we can check our calendars ourselves, stud muffin.”

“Stud muffin?” he asked with a laugh.

“You wanted something manly,” she said. “I’m just trying to give you what you asked for.” He was still laughing as he pulled into Vinnie’s, her favorite pizza place. “Oh, pizza. I didn’t even know that’s what I wanted until just now.”

“Anything for my pookie,” he said. She wrinkled her nose at that one. “Not pookie, then? I’ll keep working on it.” 

*           *           *

Felicity sighed happily, sinking down into the comfortable chair while her feet soaked in the warm water. She looked over at Thea and smiled. “This was a good idea.”

“I know, we can be pretty brilliant,” Thea said. Her eyes were closed as she sipped her wine. “And we managed to piss off a few paps today. That’s always a good time.”

They’d started at brunch, then went shopping for shoes and a few new dresses that Thea claimed Felicity needed as Tommy Merlyn’s new wife. And all the while, the paparazzi followed them around, like Felicity feared they would. But Thea had shown her a few different ways to handle them. Thea knew all the nicer photographers by name, introducing Felicity to them, then agreeing to pose for one picture with the understanding that they wouldn’t be followed around any longer. And it actually worked. For those three anyway.

The others however, well, they had to “get creative” with them, Thea had explained. “So, you flip them off or write the word ‘fuck’ on the palm of your hand and use that to cover your face. No self-respecting gossip rag is going to publish pictures like that.”

Felicity wasn’t sure if that was the best idea, seeing as how she had just married the CEO of a large company that probably wouldn’t take kindly to hearing that she was walking around with curse words on her body. But she had to admit it had worked. As they lounged at the salon, she knew that only two photogs remained. One that had connections to Ari, which meant he would be ruthless. The other she wasn’t so sure. She was pleased that she hadn’t seen her friend from the day before, so all in all, a good day in her book.

Or at least it was until a few hours later. She was going over some notes for a meeting she had with the IT department first thing the next morning when her phone rang. “Mom! Hi. What’s going on?”

“Felicity Meghan Smoak,” she flinched hearing her mother’s voice through the cell phone. “Or is it Merlyn now? When were you planning on telling me?”

“I…” Felicity trailed off, looking around the room for an answer that she knew wouldn’t appear. “I’m sorry, Mom.”

Donna sighed on the other end of the line. “You couldn’t come visit me anytime in the last eight years. And yet you take a weekend out in Vegas with your friends, Felicity? And not only that, but I had to find out from Val that you _got married_?”

“Mom…” Felicity dropped her head into her free hand. She should have taken care of this weeks ago. “To be fair, I did call you.”

“You called me one time. Once. Three weeks ago. You didn’t even leave a message. I found out today when I just so happened to run into her. You know she’s working over at the Bellagio? She said your new husband is some CEO?”

“Yeah, he is. Tommy runs Merlyn Global Group. Took it over after, well, after his dad died,” a tiny lie. But not one that her mother needed to know anything about. Technically everyone had thought Malcolm was dead when Tommy took over the company.

“You’ve worked so hard, Felicity. Remember MIT? And now you’re just another trophy wife? To another rich boy that is just taking you for granted.”

Felicity bristled. “No, Mom. It’s not like that. I love Tommy,” she winced at the lie, but powered through it, “He’s not like Oliver. This isn’t another ‘executive assistant’ situation. You’ll love him too, when you meet him.”

“Oh, honey,” Donna said slowly. Felicity hated it when she said that. She’d said the exact same thing when Felicity had called her and vented about Oliver making her his EA. Just a disappointed “Oh, honey.” And that was it.

“Mom. Seriously. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about Tommy and I. He’s high profile and we kept our relationship quiet because of that. But he’s so great, really. You’re really going to like him when you meet him,” she said quickly.

“So when do I get to meet him then?” Never. Never would be good, she thought. She must have been silent for far too long because her mother spoke again. “Felicity?”

“Sorry, sorry. I was just thinking about the calendar. You know, we’re sort of busy. How’s Rosh Hashanah sound?”

Donna laughed. “Felicity, that’s six months away! How about I come out after Pesach? Let you lovebirds have another few weeks to yourselves…We can invite your friends, I’ll cook dinner.”

Six weeks. They’d have six weeks to themselves. To hopefully make their marriage convincing enough for her mother. “That sounds great, Mom.”

“Wonderful. I’ve got to go. I have a shift soon. But I’ll give you a call and we’ll iron down some plans. Love you, baby.”

“Yeah, love you too, Mom,” Felicity mumbled. She stared at her phone for several long minutes before she finally went back to her paperwork. To say she wasn’t looking forward to this visit would be an understatement.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is dedicated to the always lovely always_a_queen for her birthday! I hope you had a great day!
> 
> (Also, thanks to girlwithsixsmiles and Abbie for beta reasons.)

Tommy stood in the shower, just allowing the hot water to flow over him, hoping that it would relieve some of the stress from the last few weeks of living with Felicity and the training session he just went through with Diggle and Oliver. Everything had been going so well until Donna had called with plans to visit, and since then, for four weeks, Felicity had been freaking out. He actually caught her Googling “how do newlyweds act?” and “what do married people do?” She ordered a book called _The Newlywed Manual_ and had actually been reading it.

She was convinced that they needed the additional training in convincing her mother that they were married. While he thought maybe they’d need to up the intimate touches and gestures a little bit more, she was running him through the ringer with tips and other ridiculous information. For four weeks, she’d been slowly killing him.

*             *             *

Tommy grinned as Felicity put her arm around his waist, she always got a touch handsier when she was drinking. They were out at Verdant on a Friday night, attempting to have a normal date night after the pregnancy test fiasco. Well, as much as a date they could have with the entirety of Team Arrow out with them.

She surprised him though by standing on her tiptoes and whispering, “Tommy, stick your hand in my back pocket.”

He cocked his head at her inquisitively, not entirely sure what he was hearing. Thea and Sara snickered next to Felicity, and even Diggle had managed a smirk when she said, “We need to start acting married. My mom is going to be here in five weeks. We need practice. Stick your hand in my pocket. Couples do that all the time.”

Flabbergasted, he did as he was told, but thought privately that maybe she shouldn’t have anything else to drink that night. He couldn’t actually remember grabbing a date’s ass in public since before Laurel. And he couldn’t believe that Felicity was asking him to _grope_ her in the middle of a club.

“You know,” Thea said from next to Felicity. “She’s got a point. You guys don’t act very married.”

Tommy clenched his jaw, but Sara smiled slowly as if it was all a big joke. Which, to them, it probably was. “No, she’s right. Newlyweds should be all over each other.”

Thea nodded. “Yeah. You guys should probably kiss more often in public. And not just cheek kisses either. You need to start _selling_ it.” Even Laurel couldn’t help but smirk at he and Felicity at this point. Oliver was the only one that didn’t look amused by the joke.

Felicity turned her blue eyes on him, opened wide. “They’re right. I’ve always been open to PDA with guys. We need to turn it up a notch.” He leaned down, catching her lips with his own. It was brief, but she was smiling when he pulled away. “Much better, Merlyn.”

*             *             *

She’d taken to rubbing his back or shoulders, whatever she felt was necessary when she happened to walk past him. “Intimate touches, Tommy. Married couples aren’t afraid to touch each other.” Sometimes, she’d lean down, press her lips against his ear with a kiss, or whispering something – usually a compliment, but sometimes nothing more than “hi” – in his ear.

He couldn’t take it anymore. He was 300% certain that she was trying to kill him before her mom could visit, just to solve both of their problems. And these little things had nothing on what happened the night before. He ached to take himself in his hand when he thought about it, but now was not the time or place, so he tried to push the wayward thoughts out of his mind.

*             *             *

“So, I was in the break room getting coffee today, and overheard some people talking,” Felicity said as she washed a wine glass from dinner that night. She rinsed it off and handed it to him, her fingers casually brushing up against his own.

“Oh?” he asked, just trying to indicate that he was listening. He watched her out of the corner of his eyes, watching the way her bright pink lips formed words when she talked about something she was passionate about. He took the plate she handed him, listening as she said something about one of the girls – Carla, maybe? He wasn’t sure – had just gotten married.

“So, what I’m trying to say is that we’re not being smug enough,” she explained as she took hold of the ice cream scoop that they used earlier. Her hands moved over it in a very…erotic way. He swallowed hard as she moved her hand up and down the handle. She clearly wasn’t paying attention to what she was doing as she told him they should be more smug about all the sex they were having as newlyweds. She started rambling, but he didn’t even notice. He couldn’t hear anything over the rushing in his ears and the tightness of his pants.

“Felicity,” he broke in, his voice actually breaking over her name.

“What? Tommy, I know you think I’m being silly, but my mom can’t lie for anything. I don’t want her to know this is a fake marriage,” she explained for what had to be the 100th time.

He didn’t care. He didn’t care if she wanted him to hold her hand more in public or grab her ass in the middle of crowded clubs or kiss her in the middle of a restaurant. He didn’t care about any of that. At this point, all Tommy cared about was that if she ran her hand over the handle of that ice cream scoop one more time, he was going to burst.

He closed his eyes, trying to think of baseball, of Diggle standing there threatening to kill him, his old nanny naked. But when he opened them, she was still holding onto the ice cream scoop. “I swear, Felicity. The scoop is clean. Please. Stop. Washing. It.”

Felicity finally looked down at what she was doing and blushed all the way down her neck. “Oh, my God. I’m so sorry, Tommy. I was just…I didn’t mean to.” She glanced at his very obvious erection and dropped the ice cream scoop in his hand. Her mouth opened in a shocked “O” before she began moving her mouth, looking for the words.

Tommy dried the scoop, putting it away, then turned back to her. “It’s fine. But I’m having a dishwasher delivered tonight. I mean it. I’ll give anyone $3000 if they can do it now.” He closed his eyes as his erection twitched inside his pants. “Or rather, after I take a cold shower.” Felicity cringed, looking at everything in the small kitchen but at him.

*             *             *

He groaned under the hot water, refusing to take care of himself inside the shower at the foundry. He might be too sore to do it anyway after the beating that Oliver had given him. He took a few extra swipes at Tommy during their training session. More than necessary, Tommy thought. Even Diggle had made a few comments about how many shots Oliver had gotten at him that night.

He supposed that meant Oliver was still shitty about the conversations that they’d had. At one point, he could swear he’d heard Oliver mutter something about Tommy needing to be able to protect Felicity. From what, Tommy didn’t know. The only thing it seemed like Felicity needed protected from was the onslaught of paparazzi that followed her and the terrible gossipmongers at QC.

Still, Tommy had fought back, and hard. Or as hard as he could. Oliver was still millions of times better than Tommy at fighting and training. As he certainly should be as the Arrow.

He finished in the shower, towel drying himself off before putting his suit back on. He just wanted to get back home. He was pretty sure they had leftover lasagna in the fridge from the earlier in the week. He just wanted a beer and to finish off the lasagna and some sleep.

He shouted a goodbye to the others, although he was pretty sure it was just Laurel and Diggle remaining in the foundry with Sara and Oliver on patrol. Felicity had wanted to go in, but she said something about a late meeting that she had. It had just depended on what happened after the meeting.

Tommy made it home in record time. He waved at Mrs. Tyler, their elderly neighbor that sat on her own front porch “reading,” even in the dark. She dipped her head lower, embarrassed to be caught. He smirked as he opened the door to a dark townhome, aside from the flickering of what was probably a candle. It was coming from maybe the kitchen? He toed off his shoes by the front door and hung up his jacket before following it and finding Felicity sitting on the kitchen counter. He took a deep breath, just watching her for a moment.

She was surrounded by food. A plate from the leftovers was sitting in the sink, but on the counter next to her was a lit candle, along with all of the ingredients for s’mores. On her other side was an open bottle of wine and a half empty glass. Felicity’s eyes were closed as she leaned back against the overhead cabinets, a half-eaten s’more in her hand. He leaned against the doorframe as he allowed his eyes to wander over her. She was still wearing her work clothes, but her shoes were off, and her hair was down in soft waves around her face.

Sometimes the reminder of just how gorgeous Felicity Smoak truly is was like a kick in the stomach. It just took his breath away.

He exhaled slowly. He was allowed to think things like that about his temporary wife, right?

“I can feel you staring at me,” Felicity said softly, looking at him through her eyelashes. She popped the rest of her s’more into her mouth, smearing a bit of chocolate on the corner of her lips.

Tommy ducked his head, trying to hide his answering smile. “Long day, pooh bear?”

She laughed mirthlessly. “Sort of. Paps followed me around again, although I thought I had that situation under control. I got into an argument with Oliver, which always ends well. Someone decided to write ‘golddigger’ on my windshield in red lipstick. The aforementioned douchebags stood there taking pictures of me cleaning it off rather than helping me. I cannot wait to see that one on SC Weekly later.” She grabbed another marshmallow, placing it on a fork and holding it over the candle that she’d lit. “An old friend from college called me to let me know that Ari had called her, digging for information on me. And, oh, my mom called to remind me that she’s coming to visit in two weeks.” She popped the marshmallow into her mouth, sucking the melted bit off her thumb.

Tommy frowned and rubbed a hand over his face as he thought about how miserable this life was making her. “Felicity…” he trailed off, unsure of what to say to make it better.

She rolled her eyes as she took another drink of her wine. “Don’t,” she said, waving her free hand at him.

He walked towards her slowly, then put his arms around her, pulling her into his chest. She let out a shuddering sigh as she leaned her head against him. “I’m sorry,” he said in a low voice, kissing the top of her head.

She shook her head against his chest slowly. “Quit apologizing, Tommy. I mean it. I don’t want another apology from you.” She was quiet for a minute, then said, “Unless you’re apologizing for using all the hot water again. Or cancelling my recording of _Orphan Black._ ”

Tommy laughed. “Those were accidents and you know it.”

She leaned back so she could look at him, and he was surprised by how empty he felt, with the distance between them. “Yeah, well, you’re lucky it was On Demand.”

He smiled softly, brushing her hair off her face. “You just watch it for Dylan Bruce, don’t pretend you’re interested in the story.”

“Oh, Hot Paul and his hot ass,” she drawled, grinning at him.

He smirked when he realized she still had that little bit of melted chocolate on the corner of her mouth. “You have some chocolate, right here,” Tommy said, using his thumb to brush the chocolate off her face. She reached for his wrist, holding it in place as she flicked her tongue at his thumb. She licked the chocolate off and simultaneously lit every cell of his body on fire.

He groaned, feeling the telltale signs of an erection, once again. She really was going to kill him. He was sure of it. Felicity blushed at the groan, her eyes wide as saucers as she finally realized what she just did. “Sorry, bad day. I just really wanted that chocolate.”

Tommy nodded, even as he moved his hands down to the countertop, clenching the edge hard. For the second time that day, he thought about baseball, Grams, Diggle, anything other than Felicity Smoak and her tongue and all of the things they did in that hotel room two months ago. He very studiously did not think about her hands moving over the handle of the ice cream scoop the night before or all the times she’d brushed her lips over his ear in the last four weeks.

He definitely did not think about how easy it would be to close the six inches between the two of them as he stared at her lips. Didn’t think about how easy it would be to just duck his head down, as she reached out and began to toy with his tie.

“Tommy,” Felicity whispered. He barely had time to think of anything else as she pulled him down to her by his tie, crushing his mouth to her own. This kiss was nothing like the chaste kisses they’d been playing at for the last few weeks. He reached out, grasping her hips in his hands and pulled her closer to the edge of the counter and him, before he ran his hands up her sides and brushed his thumbs against the underside of her breasts through her shirt. She moaned into his mouth, nipping at his bottom lip before tangled her tongue with his once again. She let go of the tie and threaded her fingers through his hair, pulling him even closer.

Fine with him, all he wanted to be was closer to her. Even now, as she ground her hips into him, he didn’t feel close enough. “Too much clothing,” he mumbled as he pulled away from her to pull her top off over her head. He bent his head down, licking and sucking at her pulse point before kissing his way down to her collarbone. She’d nodded her agreement and attacked his buttons with nimble hacker’s fingers, already pulling the tie off. He pulled away from her just long enough to allow her to push the button up off him and to yank the undershirt he was wearing off, throwing it somewhere on the floor.

She pulled him back quickly, pressing a quick kiss to his chest before bringing his mouth back down to her own. Tommy ran his hands slowly over her exposed skin before finally bringing his hands to her breasts, palming her through her bra. She gave a little squeak as he squeezed lightly, wiggling closer to him.

Dimly, he recognized a ringtone, realized it was her phone. The one reserved for Sara. “Ignore it,” she said breathlessly. He nodded seriously, running his thumbs over her nipples through the lace of her bra. He considered the ramifications of taking the bra off, then figured they’d already pole vaulted over the line they’d made up.

He was just reaching for her bra clasp when his own phone rang. And once again, it was Sara. He groaned. She wouldn’t call multiple times if it wasn’t important. Felicity must have realized the same thing since she pulled away from him, slumping against the cabinets, breathing heavily. He reached into his pocket and pulled the phone out, barely managing to contain his unhappiness as he barked out, “What, Sara?”

“Someone’s testy,” Sara said with a laugh. You have no idea, he thought as he looked at the half-clothed blonde beauty pouting on the counter. “Listen, I need to talk to Felicity, she’s not answering. I called three times.”

He handed the phone to Felicity and ignoring the little voice in his head telling him that Sara’s interruption was a good thing. Instead, he ran his hands under her skirt, grazing her thighs with his fingertips as she squirmed underneath him. He was just about to lower himself to the ground, pull the panties off her, push up the skirt, and taste her.

Or he was, until Felicity said, “Yeah, yeah. I’ll be there as soon as I can, Sara. Bye.” She groaned as she set the phone down on the counter. “I have to go. Something’s wrong with the computers. They lost surveillance to half the city and no one can figure out why.”

He wanted to argue with her, but instead leaned down to pick up the shirt off the floor. It was just as well. Having sex right now? It would only complicate things. “Yeah, yeah, ok.” He grabbed his own shirt, not even bothering to button it. “But tomorrow? We’re going to Central City. You’re stressed, I’m…” he chuckled. “We’re going to go visit friends and pretend to be normal, just for the weekend.”

She hopped down from the counter and pressed a light kiss to his cheek. “That sounds great, actually.”

The next day, after a long train ride, and settling into their _separate_ bedrooms at the Allen/West residence, they were walking around a museum exhibit that Barry was thrilled to show Felicity. Tommy finally felt like he could relax. For the first time since they got married, he finally felt like himself.

He joked around with Iris about the cute nerds they arrived with, relishing that Felicity turned around to shoot him a slightly indignant smile. He just shrugged at her innocently.

“So, you guys are married now?” Iris asked quietly.

“Wow, Iris, how long have you been itching to bring that up?” he teased.

Iris  tried to look contrite, but the sparkle in her eyes betrayed her. “I’m sorry, Tommy! I was going to try to be subtle about it, but…”

“But you have the subtlety of a pink elephant dancing on the ceiling?” He laughed. “Yeah, we’re married now. It was an accident. We’re sticking with it, but it’s not going to last. We have an arrangement of sorts.”

“You’re fake married.” Iris made a little squeak. “Do you know how many rom-coms start out this way?”

Tommy ducked his head, trying to hide his smirk. “Yeah, I’m aware. It has not been lost on me how much of a joke this is.”

“Aw, Tommy,” she looked up ahead at Felicity and Barry, immersed in some science thing that Tommy couldn’t care less about. But she looked happy, as she pointed something out to Barry who nodded enthusiastically. “You guys will be fine. It’s a little ridiculous, I won’t lie to you. But you and Felicity might just come out stronger because of it.”

“Maybe,” he said. “Right now we’re just trying not to cross any lines that might end up ruining our friendship after the amicable divorce.”

Iris studied him for a moment, making him fidget nervously, before she burst out laughing. “And that’s going well for you, I see.”

He huffed, exasperated. “Ok. I’m tired of talking about us. Let’s talk about you and Barry over there.”

Iris watched Barry with a soft smile on her face. “There’s nothing to talk about, we’re perfect.”

Tommy opened his mouth to retort something back at her, but Felicity and Barry rejoined them, Felicity tucking her arm into Tommy’s and Barry wrapping his around Iris’s waist. Barry pulled Iris close, grinning at her as she kissed him on the cheek. Tommy was happy for them both, knowing that Barry had been in love with Iris for a long time. It was nice that his friend finally got to be with the woman of his dreams.

“So what now?” Felicity asked, glancing between Iris and Barry.

“Movie, then dinner?” Iris suggested. “I think _Casablanca_ is playing over at the Emerson. We were thinking we’d cook you guys breakfast in the morning and then maybe go to a baseball game before we have to get you back on the train.”

“That sounds perfect,” Felicity said, sighing happily. “Perfect and normal.”

Tommy ducked his head, trying to remind himself that she hadn’t said that as a jab against him, but against the craziness that her life has become. Probably since becoming part of Team Arrow, if he thought about it objectively.

He and Barry walked on ahead, exchanging looks as Iris and Felicity whispered and giggled behind them. They grabbed a taxi to take them to the movie theater, Tommy insisting that he pay since Iris and Barry were allowing them to stay at their place for the weekend. Iris and Felicity went inside to grab seats while Barry and Tommy waited in the concession stand line. Barry scoffed when Tommy slipped the guy at the counter $20 to make fresh popcorn, just because he knew how much Felicity loved fresh movie theater popcorn.

“What?” Tommy asked, refusing to look Barry in the eye.

“You remember what you said to me when we first met?” Barry asked, a goofy grin on his face. Tommy frowned and shook his head, watching the popcorn pop. “What was it…something about me being adorably into Felicity?”

“I think it was awkwardly into Felicity, actually,” Tommy corrected. “I mean, you were acting like a 12 year old with his first crush.”

“How the tables have turned,” Barry teased, taking a sip of the slushy he got for he and Iris to split.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Tommy refuted, taking the popcorn with a small nod to the worker. Barry just shook his head with a small smirk as they walked into the theater to find the women. Tommy handed Felicity the popcorn, keeping his grin to himself when she cooed “Oh, and it’s fresh!” while ignoring Barry’s snort. Barry had no idea what he was talking about.

*             *             *

“Barry Allen,” Tommy sidled up behind him at the bar, waving the bartender down to order a couple of beers. “Does Oliver know you’re here? Last I heard, your cover was blown.” Tommy had received a text from Felicity, explaining that Barry Allen wasn’t quite who they thought he was, and that Oliver was _pissed._ It was a shame, Tommy liked the young investigator. He was just a little too smart for his own good, and it was more than amusing to watch him keep Oliver on his toes with his many Arrow theories.

Barry sighed, turning away from watching Oliver and Felicity to answer him. “He’s the one who invited me. He seemed to forgive me once I told him about my mother.”

The bartender set two bottles in front of them, Tommy picked one up, sliding the other one to Barry. “What about your mother?” Tommy asked, taking a swig of his drink.

“She was killed when I was 11,” Barry said quietly. “My father was blamed and is now sitting in a prison cell, but I know he didn’t do it. I was hoping…Well, it doesn’t matter. Oliver apologized, called me and told me to be here for Felicity.”

Tommy studied Barry for a moment, then nodded, raising his beer in the air. “To our mothers.”

Barry looked at him quizzically, but tapped his bottle against Tommy’s, both taking a swig. Oliver waved at Barry briefly, and Barry nodded in his and Felicity’s direction. “That’s my cue.”

Tommy nodded. “Be careful there, you’re like a bumbling puppy.” Barry laughed and shook his head as he walked away to join Oliver and Felicity. Tommy was joined by Oliver a few moments later, both watching as Barry and Felicity took a turn on the dance floor. “Look at you, being all accepting and shit,” he said to Oliver with a smirk.

Oliver chuckled and ordered a drink from the bartender. “Yeah, well. Kid’s had a rough go of it.”

“Yeah, he told me,” Tommy said. “I feel for him. Not knowing who actually killed his mother or why.” He could relate to losing a parent at such a young age, he thought, although he didn’t voice that thought to Oliver. He had the feeling Oliver understood though, with the answering grimace he received. “I’m going to go find Laurel, I think.”

*             *             *

The next day in Central City, Tommy woke up to the smell of coffee and bacon and low chatter from the kitchen. He stretched and pulled on some sweat pants over his boxers before he shuffled out to join whoever else was awake.

“I’m just saying, Barry, I think they’re cute together.” He could hear Iris before he even got all the way down the stairs and paused, even though he knew he shouldn’t be eavesdropping.

Tommy could hear the laughter in Barry’s voice as he responded. “Iris, leave them alone.”

“I’m not doing anything. I’m just commenting. The way he leads her around with his hand at the small of her back. Casually places his jacket over her shoulders when she barely shivers. Plus the fact that neither of them can stop watching the other when they think the other person isn’t looking. All those stupid pet names.” She paused, and Tommy closed his eyes, wondering if he and Felicity were really doing all that Iris was describing. He also should have stopped with the pet names for the weekend, but it was too much fun watching her grin or roll her eyes in amusement. “They are awfully cute for a not real married couple. I bet they don’t actually break it off like they say they’re going to.”

That was enough. Tommy coughed, trying to alert them to his presence before joining them in the kitchen. “Something smells good,” he said, smiling at them both. He reached for one of the coffee mugs that had been set out on the counter and filled it up. Felicity joined them a short time after and they discussed their plans for the day.

The baseball game ended up being a good time, and none of them said anything as Barry slowed time twice to catch foul balls. He proudly raised the first one for the cameras, giving it to Iris, but the second, he snuck into Tommy’s hand. Tommy just shook his head and grinned ruefully for the camera before passing the ball to Felicity.

By the time they got back to Starling City, Tommy was hoping she’d be more relaxed and ready to deal with her mother’s visit in two short weeks. He’d hoped that the nice, normal weekend would show her that everything was going to be just fine.

Of course, it was…and it wasn’t. Two weeks later, they were walking out the door to the townhome, getting ready to go to the airport to pick up Donna, when Tommy stopped in his tracks, looking at Felicity in shock. “Felicity, where, exactly, is your mom going to sleep?”

Felicity turned around slowly, her mouth floundering as she attempted to speak. “Oh. Shit.”

All that careful planning, he thought, shaking his head. “I’ll stay behind. Get my bedroom moved into your room.”

“Yeah, that sounds good. We’ll pick up dinner, give you a little extra time,” she offered. They’d been planning on taking Donna out for dinner, but maybe this was the better option. She glanced at the time on her cell phone. “An hour and a half, two hours?”

“I’ll try to have it done in an hour, but yeah, take at least an hour and a half,” he said. He kissed her forehead, noticing that she was already starting to have that panicked look in her eyes. “Don’t worry. We will get through this. Ok?” She nodded, waving before she walked out to her car. He practically sprinted up the stairs to his bedroom. Ok, no big deal. He just needed to empty the dresser, and the closet, clear off the nightstand. Make the bed with clean sheets. Turn it into a guest room again. An hour and a half. He could do this.

When Felicity and Donna returned less than two hours later, he was sitting on the couch, reading the newspaper. He’d only been done for about 20 minutes, so their timing couldn’t have been more perfect. He stood to greet them, brushing a kiss to Felicity’s lips while taking the bag full of takeout to relieve her arms.

He smiled his most charming smile at Donna, but before he could get a word out, she raised an eyebrow at him, saying, “And here I was thinking that the CEO could make his own schedule. You know, go with his wife to pick up the mother-in-law for that first meeting.”

Felicity’s eyes widened in shock. “Mom!”

“No, it’s ok, Felicity. That’s fair,” he squeezed her arm, then turned back to Donna. “I’m so sorry, Ms. Smoak. I would have preferred being there to pick you up, but I had an emergency with work. Washington isn’t my biggest fan, he’s always trying to get me kicked out of my own company. It shouldn’t have impacted my ability to meeting my wife’s mother for the first time though.”

Donna smiled and Tommy hoped that meant all was forgiven. “Oh, dear, call me Donna. And of course you’re forgiven.  I can understand work emergencies.”

Tommy could see Felicity sag with relief and smiled before kissing Donna on the cheek. “It is lovely to meet you, Donna. Is your luggage out in the car?” He set the takeout on the counter before taking Felicity’s keys to bring his mother-in-law’s luggage in from outside. He carried it up the stairs and placed it in the guest bedroom before joining them for dinner.

Tommy and Felicity stood at the foot of the bed, just staring at it. They’d decided to turn in after watching a movie, Donna was tired from her flight, Felicity and Tommy from working early that day. And they’d finally come to the part of the night that he was dreading. He swallowed hard, looking over at her in her tank top and short sleep shorts. No bra, lots of leg. He was dying. “We can do this.”

“Totally. It’s just a bed,” she agreed. “We’ve slept in a bed together before. After doing other things in that bed. Not that we’ll be doing other things in this bed. Just sleeping.”

Tommy laughed. “Felicity.” She looked over at him, pulling her bottom lip between her teeth. “What side do you usually sleep on?”

She smiled gratefully and pointed. “Right side. Is that ok?”

“I sleep on the left. It’s perfect,” he said softly. “Come on, let’s just go to sleep.” They both got under the covers carefully, keeping plenty of space between them. “Good night, Felicity.”

“Night, Tommy.” She took her glasses off and set them on the nightstand before turning off the light. Not that it helped him any. Painfully aware of the soft skinned blonde in barely there pajamas next to him, Tommy wasn’t sure if he’d ever get any sleep that night.

 


End file.
